Former South African skipper AB de Villiers believes Shubman Gill’s 104 was the difference between the two teams at Vizag. India registered a 106-run win in the second Test match to square the series 1-1.

Meanwhile, England was still very much in the game in the second innings, and Gill was under the cosh to deliver for the team. He adopted a defensive approach in the baby stages of his innings but grew in confidence as he spent more time at the crease.

Gill went on to score his third Test century, a solid 104 to help India post 255 runs on the board and take a lead of 398 runs. The youngster added two crucial alliances of 81 and 89 with Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel respectively to put the home team in front.

AB de Villiers said Gill showed incredible character in his knock as he was under a lot of pressure.

“He (Gill) came to Vizag and just showed the incredible character that the young man has got. What an incredible player. I don’t know if he has worked on his technique at all or has anything changed, but it just shows you the talent he has got. In the second innings of a big Test match, that was a telling hundred and let me tell you, that was the difference between the two sides,” said De Villiers on his YouTube Channel.

Meanwhile, Gill admitted he was nervous right throughout his knock but was delighted to get the job done for his team.

Gill said after India’s win while being interviewed by Kevin Pietersen, “Honestly, I’ll sum it up in one line. My heartbeat playing the first ball and playing my last ball was the same. Yes, my heartbeat was the same. My heartbeat was the same throughout my innings. That’s how nervous I was feeling even after scoring 104.”

The third Test match between India and England will be played at Rajkot from 15th February onwards.