Shubman Gill’s incredible form on the ongoing England tour has been a major boost for Indian cricket, especially in the Test format. Batting at No. 4 after Virat Kohli’s retirement from the longest format, Gill has stepped up in a big way. After scoring a century in the series opener at Leeds, the Edgbaston Test saw him produce a mammoth knock of 269 runs in the first innings, powering India to a commanding total of 587.
Speaking on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, former England pacer Stuart Broad praised Gill’s innings and suggested he even looked capable of breaking Brian Lara’s record for the highest individual Test score of 400.
“I think India were ten out of ten. Sometimes in Test match cricket, when you get such a one-sided result, it’s easy to be critical of the other team — which is England at this time — but India were just superb. Shubman Gill 269, honestly it looked like he could have got Lara’s record. He was just cruising. It didn’t look like anything could trouble him. Goodness me, that move to four — spent most of his career opening the batting — moved to number four since Kohli has retired and gone to a hundred, big double, big 150. Looks like he’s got no weaknesses at all,” Broad said.
Gill’s form didn’t stop there. In the second innings, he added another 161 runs, finishing the match with a staggering aggregate of 430 runs — a standout performance that helped India seal a massive 336-run win and level the series 1-1.
Despite the dominance of the visitors, Broad felt England missed an opportunity to salvage a draw on the final day, especially considering the weather delay that shortened the final innings.
“England could have drawn it (Test). They had to bat 80-odd overs due to the rain. I think they’ll be a bit disappointed they didn’t manage to do that. There was nothing in the surface that was a really sort of worn fifth-day pitch. They’ll be disappointed they didn’t show a little more craft in the defense,” Broad concluded.
For more exciting articles, follow RevSportz.