Virat Kohli heaps praise on Shubman Gill after India Test captain slams third ton in four outings: 'Well played star boy'

Shubman Gill received high praise from none other than Virat Kohli, the batting icon whom he succeeded at the No 4 spot in the Indian Test team, after scoring his third century in four outings in the ongoing tour of England on Saturday.

Newly-appointed India Test captain Gill once again rewrote the record books as he followed up his majestic 269 in the first innings of the second Test against England with a knock of 161, helping India declare on 427/6 and set England a mammoth 608-run target .

The 25-year-old ended up amassing 430 runs at Edgbaston – breaking Sunil Gavaskar’s record (344) for the most runs by an Indian in a single Test and sitting behind English batting icon Graham Gooch (456) at the second spot in the all-time list.

Gill also became only the second batter in Test cricket’s 148-year history to score more than 150 in both innings of a Test – after former Australia captain Allan Border, who had achieved the feat against Pakistan in 1980.

‘Onwards and upwards from here’: Kohli to Gill

“Well played star boy. Rewriting history. Onwards and upwards from here. You deserve all of this,” Kohli wrote in a story on Instagram after Gill brought up his ninth Test hundred on Day 4 of the second Test.

Kohli, who had retired from Test cricket just days after a similar announcement from Rohit Sharma in May, had made the No 4 his own for more than a decade following the retirement of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in 2013.

Gill, on the other hand, had started his Test career as an opener before moving to No 3 to accommodate Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order. He would move down by another spot for his maiden series as Test captain – in which he has amassed a whopping 585 runs in just two Tests at a staggering average of 146.25.

India put themselves in the driver’s seat at close of play on Day 4 after reducing England to 72/3, with the hosts needing another 536 to win with seven wickets in hand on the final day.

England currently lead the five-match series 1-0 after collecting a five-wicket win in the first Test at Headingley, where they chased down a target of 371 in the final hour of the final day.