Before the Edgbaston Test, Shubman Gill did not score a double ton in Test match cricket; however, in the first innings of that Test, he looked in sublime form and piled on a 269-run marathon innings. The pitch was conducive to batting, and Gill looked in the zone to pile on a mammoth total. Former England cricketer Stuart Broad said Gill looked like he could break Brian Lara’s 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, speaking on the For the love of cricket podcast.
Gill ended up scoring another ton in the second innings, which took his tally in the Test match to 430 runs, which is the highest score in a game by an Indian. Thanks to Gill’s contributions, India could set a target of 608 runs for England in the final innings. However, the play on the final day started late due to rain, and England had a realistic possibility to draw the game, which they could not.
“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 little more craft in the defense,” Broad said.
