Virat Kohli has showered praise on Shubman Gill after the newly-appointed India Test captain's spectacular performance in the ongoing series against England. Gill's performance included his third century in four outings. Kohli, who retired from Test cricket in May, lauded Gill for "rewriting history" with his performance at Edgbaston.
Gill's impressive form saw him amass 430 runs in the Birmingham Test, with innings of 269 and 161. These scores helped India set a daunting target of 608 for England. Kohli took to Instagram to express his admiration, writing, "Well played star boy. Rewriting history. Onwards and upwards from here. You deserve all of this".
Gill's twin centuries contributed to India reaching a historic milestone of scoring 1,000 runs in a single Test match for the first time. He also recorded the second-highest individual aggregate in a single Test match, only behind Graham Gooch's 456 runs against India in 1990. Gill also became only the second batter to score over 150 runs in both innings of a Test, equaling Allan Border's feat from 1980. He is also the second player in the ongoing series to score centuries in both innings, after Rishabh Pant. Gill is now the eighth Indian to score centuries in both innings of a Test match, and only the third Indian captain to achieve this distinction, following Sunil Gavaskar and Kohli himself.
Leading up to the series, there was pressure on Gill, who had not previously scored a century in SENA countries. With the recent Test retirements of Rohit Sharma, Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin, Gill also faced the challenge of leading a team in transition while batting at the No. 4 position. In the first innings of the Headingley Test, Gill played a brilliant knock of 147 runs. In the Edgbaston Test, he demonstrated resilience, scoring 269 runs in the first innings and 161 in the second. Gill now holds the record for the second most runs scored in a single Test match for India, behind Sunil Gavaskar.
Kohli's praise came after Gill's stunning second innings of 161, which followed his first innings score of 269. Across both innings, Gill surpassed numerous records previously held by Kohli, including most runs by an Indian in a Test match as captain. Gill's performance has put India in a strong position to win the second match of the series at Birmingham.
