On Day 5 of the first Test between India and England, Shubman Gill's defensive captaincy was scrutinized as England completed their second-highest run chase ever to start their campaign for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with a victory. In his debut game as India's Test captain, Gill was criticized for being overly cautious and chasing the ball as England defeated India with five wickets remaining to reach 371.

The consensus was that Shubman Gill was overly cautious. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar stated on JioHotstar that he believed he was attempting to entice England by closing off boundaries in the hopes that the wickets would eventually materialize.

With too many boundary riders, which Manjrekar thought someone like Virat Kohli would never have done, Gill began Day 5 in cloudy weather. That gives a team the ability to escape with little pressure from nearby fielders.

Although Shubman Gill is a young captain, he would not have set such a defensive field, and I hate to compare him to Virat Kohli. That is unlike Virat Kohli, who might say: We have enough runs, I will get you all out before Tea. Manjrekar stated that even though he would have been at it, it is certain that he would have taken wickets with an aggressive field.

Gill did not have the same bowling arsenal as Kohli did with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ishant Sharma all delivering cylinders, the former India batsman concurred.

"Gill doesn't have the same seam attack as England—though they don't have Bumrah but English team has more all-round options. Even with Jadeja, I believed that India should have started with a regular field and not attempted to predict reverse sweeps. Before switching to a defensive strategy, you should begin with an offensive mindset, even if it's just for a few overs. With that said, I don't want to be too harsh on Shubman. We have to remember that he is a novice captain, he said.

India's defenseless attack is exploited by Ben Duckett

The home team, led by a stunning 188-run opening stand between Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, displayed a more mature version of their well-known "Bazball" approach, which combines aggression with discipline.

England were in a difficult situation when play resumed on a gloomy morning on 21-0, needing 350 more. However, Duckett (149) and Crawley (65) skillfully countered India's offensive, and the score was 117-0 at lunch. The pair's stand was the first time an England opening pair has scored more than 2,000 career runs together since Cook and Strauss, and it was the fifth-highest opening partnership ever recorded in a fourth innings in Test history.

India maintained its composure even after a short post-lunch stumble in which it scored three times in rapid succession via Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur. There was a brief moment of tension when Ravindra Jadeja bowled out Ben Stokes with 69 more runs required. However, Joe Root (53*) and Jamie Smith (44*) saw the hosts home in style, with Smith's game coming to an end with a massive six over long-on.

India had opportunities: Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped Duckett on 97, and Bumrah missed Crawley's return chance. However, England made the most of every error. Any Indian hopes in the last innings were crushed by Smith's assured stroke play and Root's composure.

In 18 Tests under coach Brendon McCullum, this was England's 12th successful chase, demonstrating polished aggression rather than recklessness. The game, which was only the third in Test history to have all four innings above 350, kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout.

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