Shubman Gill, in his first Test series as captain, not only became the top run scorer in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with 754 runs at an average of 75.40 but also led the Indian fightback in the series with a six-run win at The Oval on Monday, tying the series 2-2.

With England needing 35 runs with four wickets in hand, the Indian team was spearheaded by pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, and England fell six runs short of the 374-run total.

Shubman Gill praised the 'young' Indian Test team and explained why they wanted to be a 'gun team' on Monday.

“It means so much. This was a very hard-fought series. Both teams were throwing punches, and you could never really predict after day four who was going to win the match. We are a young team, but before the start of the series, we spoke about how we didn’t want to be looked at as a young team. We wanted to be a good team, and I think we showed that today.

(On Test cricket) Nothing beats it. It’s the most rewarding format. You work so hard over five days, and even before the test starts, there are so many mental and physical challenges in this format. Once you’re able to succeed, it’s the most satisfying and rewarding format,” Gill told BBC’s Test Match Special.

England, at one point, looked good to pocket the series 3-1 with Harry Brook and Joe Root hitting centuries and adding 195 runs in an aggressive partnership. But with their dismissal, India’s hopes of a win were reignited, and they managed to bring the equation to 35 runs to defend and take four wickets on day five, which they managed to do.

“This is cricket. You never know. Once you’re in the game, you want to be as ruthless as possible and not give the opposition any bit of space, but with a couple of wickets after Brook, we had that little bit of space, and it’s never easy with the ball swinging and the pressure on the opposition. It’s not easy to bat, so we wanted to make sure they kept feeling the pressure. The spell from Siraj and Prasidh really changed the game for us, and those are the ones who kept believing we could pull this game through. With 60 or 70-odd runs to win with seven wickets in hand, you don’t get to see many games like this. Very happy to get this over the line, a little bit of luck for us,” shared Gill.

Gill also reiterated Gambhir’s mantra for the Indian team to be seen as a gun team with an interaction with Cheteshwar Pujara.

“Before this series, Gauti Bhai said one thing. ‘We are a young team, but we don’t want to be seen as a young team… we want to be seen as a gun team.’ Today, we showed why we are a gun team and why we have so much potential. Irrespective of where we are playing, we want to be able to give our best. And give everything, give ourselves the best opportunity to win a Test match anywhere in the world,” he said on Sony Sports.

Gill also hailed Woakes’s effort on the final day.

“Very, very brave. I didn’t expect him to come out like that, batting with one hand, the other in the sweater, but good on him for showing that courage,” Gill said.