Yuvraj Singh heaped praises on captain Shubman Gill and Team India for their remarkable performance at the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy where a young unit, bereft of the talents of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin, managed to tie the 5-match series 2-2.
“There were a lot of question marks over his overseas record. The guy (Gill) became the captain and scored four Test hundreds. It’s just unbelievable that when you’re given responsibility, how you take it,” Yuvraj told ICC Digital.
“So, very proud of them (Indian team). I certainly feel it’s a win for us, although it’s a drawn series, because it’s a young team. And it’s not easy to go and play well in England and prove yourself,” he added.
Gill, who had faced a lot of questions for his overseas numbers before the tour commenced, shut all naysayers when he slammed four centuries and finished as the leading run-scorer with 754 runs. It also made him the first Asian batter to score 700-plus runs in a Test series in a SENA country.
Special praise for Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja
“It’s just fantastic because I felt when you have a young team going to England, it’s a lot of pressure. You’re filling the boots of somebody like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, it’s not easy. The guys took it head-on,” he said.
“The moment in the tournament was when India drew the Test series. I’ve never seen, in a very long time, Washington and Jadeja got hundreds and drew a Test matc. That speaks volumes. Obviously Jadeja has been there for a long time. But I think Washington Sundar, as a youngster coming into the team, it was incredible to do what he did,” added Yuvraj.
India, who had to contend with injuries to Rishabh Pant, Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Arshdeep Singh throughout the campaign as well as missing Jasprit Bumrah’s services for 2 out of 5 Tests due to the pacer’s workload management, won the 2nd and 5th test while drawing the 4th after losing the 1st and 3rd Test.