Within two weeks of comparing Shubman Gill to Virat Kohli, Nasser Hussain retracted his statement. The 25-year-old led India to a historic first-ever Test victory in Birmingham on Sunday, much to the amazement of the former England captain. India defeated England by 336 runs, their greatest Test victory abroad, to tie the five-match series 1-1.

After India's defeat in Leeds last month, Nasser slammed Gill's leadership, claiming it lacked the Virat Kohli aura. The experienced player highlighted that, despite the constant input from teammates KL Rahul, vice-captain Rishabh Pant, and the dugout, Gill never appeared to be in charge on the field.

"To be honest, I thought someone was just trying to find his way. In the first Test match, you must exercise extreme caution with the players he has replaced—Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Following India's five-wicket defeat at Headingley, where Gill made his debut as the Test captain, he had told Sky Sports that he didn't feel he had the same on-field aura as the names he mentioned there.

But Nasser praised Gill on Sunday after India's amazing turnaround at Edgbaston. The former English hitter acknowledges that he is unlikely to be a "Kohli-type character" on the field, but he believes that Gill's "calm and composed" demeanor is currently the best fit for India.

"I believe that was significant. He was undoubtedly more noticeable, in my opinion. When you lose, it's simple to point fingers at the captain and say, "Oh, he went missing." And when you win, you think, oh, he's a terrific captain. However, from the commentary box, which is where we frequently watch the Headingly game, I believe there was a lot of participation from many individuals, and it seemed like there was no one in charge. Today you look down, and there was a, he was in charge, and the camera often went in him, and he was moving fielders around. He appeared to be in control, although he still needed help from Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, or something.

"He will always be calm and collected. You simply heard that interview. His heart rate is extremely low. He will therefore not resemble Kohli in any way. His heartbeat is slow, but that might be beneficial. See this audience here today. Just look at everyone in India watching. It's possible that all you need is someone to calm the group down, he told Sky Sports.

Nasser is taken aback by Akash Deep's "unthinkable" master stroke.

On Day 5 of the game, one of the captaincy calls that shocked Nasser was when Akash Deep was instructed to switch his end, even though he had taken two wickets with the new ball from the other end the night before.

Gill made that tactical decision, which Nasser believed no other captain would have made, and India gained the advantage when Akash, all by himself, ran through the England batting lineup and took six wickets.

"He carried out several little actions that we wouldn't do. This end saw some fantastic bowling from Akash Deep. He was expected to begin this end today. At the end, he turned him on, and it was successful. Thus, he also performed tactical maneuvers throughout the game that were very effective, he claimed.

In summary, Nasser stated that Gill was responsible for the match's most crucial aspect, which was "shed loads of runs." The captain scored the most runs by any captain in a single test match, with 430 runs—259 and 161, respectively.

The most important thing is to score runs. He has a lot of runs, and that's his main priority.

Read Also: Shubman Gill’s Edgbaston Heroics Enter Indian Cricket Folklore

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