London: Even as the Test series between England and India is shaping up into a classic, one man is stamping his authority in the most emphatic manner.
It’s none other than Shubman Gill, whose hunger for runs seems to have grown manifold since taking over the mantle of captaincy.
England bowlers have no clue on how to stop the Indian skipper as the elegant right-hander followed up a record-busting 269 in the first innings with an unbeaten century in India’s second essay on Day 4 of the second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Armed with a 180-run first-innings lead, Indians piled on the misery for Ben Stokes’ men by reaching 304/4 at tea on Saturday – an overall lead of 484 with four sessions of play left.
In the process, Gill became the second Indian batter, after legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar, to score a century and double hundred in the same Test match. In the nearly 150-year history of Test cricket, Gill is only the ninth batter to achieve the feat.
Gill also removed Gavaskar from the record books as India’s highest run-scorer in a single Test. The ‘Little Master’ had 344 runs (124 and 220) in the 1971 Port-of-Spain Test against the West Indies.
Fifty-four years later, Gill amassed 387 runs in the Birmingham Test… and counting, as India soared to 330/4 15 minutes after tea.
