India skipper Shubman Gill was left desperate to break the partnership between Harry Brook and Joe Root in the second session on Day 4 at The Oval as the England duo took the Indian attack to the cleaners in the chase of 374.

In a bid to maintain pressure, Gill asked injured Akash Deep to get ready to bowl, despite the pacer suffering a blow before lunch.

In the penultimate over of the morning session, Brook drove a delivery straight back at Akash, hitting him on the shin. Grimacing in pain, the bowler was helped up by teammates before resuming his over, albeit in visible discomfort.

In the post-lunch session, Gill continued with pace as Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj operated in tandem. Washington Sundar was introduced for a brief spell of spin bowling, but the experiment fell flat.

After Sundar’s second over, Gill reached out to Akash. The stump mic caught the Indian captain shouting, "Injection liya kya tum?", asking if Akash had taken a painkiller shot and was ready to bowl. He repeated the question, suggesting that it was the need of the hour.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar, who was  on commentary at the time, remarked, “It shows Gill wants to go back to pace again after lunch.”

Harry Brook went on to slam a dazzling 91-ball century to put India on the backfoot. While Brook was eventually dismissed for 111 by Akash Deep, Joe Root held the one end firmly.

Root was batting on 88*, with England reaching 307/4 after 65 overs, needing 67 more runs to win the Oval Test and clinch the series 3-1.