'He was just cruising' - Stuart Broad feels Shubman Gill could have broken Brian Lara's 400* record

Former English cricketer, Stuart Broad, was of the opinion that Shubman Gill was fully in the running of eclipsing Brian Lara's 400* with the way the Indian red-ball skipper was batting during the first innings of the second Test between England and India. Gill ended up scoring 269 off 387 deliveries in an innings which comprised 30 fours and three sixes. 

The ex England international also praised his shift to No. 4 post Virat Kohli's retirement from the format and felt that Gill had no vulnerabilities in terms of batting technique. The demotion in batting order has helped the youngster in getting the runs against his tally, which eventually is helping the Indian team in not only getting the runs on the board, but also gain advantage in crucial junctures of the game, according to Broad.

“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 with 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,” shared Broad while speaking on a For The Love Of Cricket podcast.

“Goodness me that move to [number] four, spent most of his career opening the batting, moved to number four since Kohli has retired and gone to a hundred, big double [hundred], big 150. Looks like he’s got no weaknesses at all,” the legendary pacer added.

Gill did not just stop after his splendid knock in the first innings. He carried the momentum forward into the second innings, where he registered 161 off 162 to aggregate 430 runs across the Test. India eventually ended up claiming a massive 336-run win to level the series at Edgbaston.

This served as a crushing blow as far as England were concerned. They had come into the game on the back of a morale-boosting five-wicket triumph against the Gill-led unit. Ben Stokes & Co. would be aiming to better their performance against the visitors to regain their lead.

The third Test of the high-octane series will be played at the Home of Cricket. With the extra zip of Jofra Archer back, England would hope that they go in with an added advantage and make the most of the pace-bowling conditions at Lord's.