Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik has noted that Indian skipper Shubman Gill has made a notable change in his batting technique, which is helping him reap rewards against England in the ongoing five-match Test series.

After scoring a gargantuan knock of 269 runs in the first innings, Gill backed it up with another sublime innings of 161 runs to help India strengthen their position. Gill aggregated a total of 430 runs, which is the second highest in a Test match after Graham Gooch’s record of 456 runs.

Karthik highlighted that Gill is getting his bat in front of his pads whereas earlier his bat was parallel to his front pad and thus he was struggling against the incoming delivery.

Dinesh Karthik said on Sky Sports, “The one difference – the ball coming in had troubled him quite a bit but it does feel like he gets his bat ahead of his pads these days. The defense has looked solid. He has said in an interview that he has worked on his technique before coming to England and it is showing.”

“The pitches haven’t had too much for the bowlers so when it gets spicier, we will really know how much he has worked on it. But, for the moment, he definitely looks very comfortable when he is batting. More than the technique, it is the mental fortitude that he has shown, batting long periods and having the hunger, to get a big one.”

On the other hand, former England captain Michael Atherton reckons Gill took the blame for the Headingley loss on his shoulders. India suffered two batting collapses at Leeds and also dropped eight catches, which led to their downfall.

“Before the game, in the pre-match press conference, he put a lot of the blame for the defeat at Headingley upon him and the other batters, who gave it away a little bit. He didn’t really reflect on that last day when his captaincy was under the microscope and England had that mammoth chase,” said Atherton (via the aforementioned source).

“He said we should have buried that game, I got out on 147 and those two collapses let England back in the game. So, he seemed doubly determined not to let that happen here. He has scored so many runs after just two Tests that there are some significant records that may come within his sight if the sun continues to shine and the pitches stay flat.”

At stumps on day four, England were 72-3, but it is raining at Edgbaston before the scheduled start of play on the final day.