IND vs WI: "We thought even if we..."- Shubman Gill breaks silence on India's decision to enforce follow on in Delhi test

Shubman Gill & Co. crushed the West Indies by seven wickets in the Delhi test and bagged a clean sweep in the two-match series.

After Indian Cricket Team defeated West Indies Cricket Team in the second test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, captain Shubman Gill said it is a big honour to lead the side. He also spoke about his thought process to enforce follow on.

The hosts outplayed the Roston Chase-led side by seven wickets in the second test. Opting to bat first in the clash, India piled up a mammoth total of 518/5d in the first innings, with help of centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (175) and Gill (129*). After bowling out the opposition for 248 runs and earning a lead of 270 runs, the hosts enforced follow-on.

The West Indies bounced back nicely with a brilliant batting performance in the second innings and posted 390/10 with centuries by John Campbell (115) and Shai Hope (103). They set a target of 121 runs for India, which the latter chased by seven wickets with an unbeaten half-century by KL Rahul.

It’s a really big honour, I’m kind of getting used to it: Shubman Gill after test series victory against West Indies

Speaking during the post-match presentation, Gill said that it is a big honour to lead India and manage the players. Last week, the right-handed batsman was also appointed as the ODI captain of the team.

“It’s a big honour (to lead India). It’s a really big honour I’m kind of getting used to it. Managing all the players, leading this team is a great honour. It’s about taking the right options in the given situation. I try to make the most probable decision in the given situation that we are in that game,” he said.

The Indian captain also revealed the thinking behind enforcing follow-on in Delhi test and why they backed Nitish Kumar Reddy in the playing XI in the match despite him not bowling a single over in the second innings.

“We were around 300 runs ahead. We thought even if we scored like 500 runs and we have to get 6 or 7 wickets on day 5, it could be a tough day for us. So, that was the thought process”, he said.

“He didn’t really get to bowl in this match. We don’t want players to only play matches overseas. That puts a lot of pressure on the players. We want to groom certain players that we think can help us win matches overseas because that’s been a challenge for us,” he added.

The Indian captain slammed a century in first innings of the encounter and played a big role in the team’s big total. He said he always focuses on driving the team to victory while batting.

“When I’m going out there to bat, batting is something that I’ve been doing since I was 3 or 4 years old. So, when I want to go out there, I just want to make decisions as a batsman. The one thing that you always strive for is how can you make your team win a match. And as a batsman, when I’m going out there, that’s the only thought that I have,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav was awarded Player of the Match in the Delhi test for taking eight wickets in the encounter, which included a five-wicket haul in the first innings. With 12 scalps, he also finished as the highest wicket-taker of the two-match test series. Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged Player of the Series after he clinched eight wickets across two games and slammed a century in the first test.

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