'Neither Kohli-Tendulkar have 200 in England': Atherton on Shubman Gill's 'masterful performance' at Edgbaston

Shubman Gill's mammoth effort at Edgabston helped him dethrone legends Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar (BCCI Photo)

Shubman Gill broke some of the finest records in Indian and Asian cricket with his incredible 269 against England in the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Gill accomplished something no other India skipper had been able to do. And right after Gill reached the 200-run milestone, former England captain Michael Atherton reminded the chatter around the youngster filling in the big boots of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli at No. 4, who held the position for the last three decades in Tests.

While Sachin made it his own for a good two decades, Kohli, the heir to the master, had it with him for more than a decade. And with Kohli retiring right before the England series, the baton was passed to Gill, who at the moment has exceeded expectations. However, while reminding the same, Atherton made an interesting point about Gill being the only one among the three to reach a double century in England.

"Shubman Gill at No.4 is filling in the big shoes... Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar's slots, but neither of those two has made a double century in England," Atherton was quoted as saying by NDTV on commentary.

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Atherton, who scored 7,728 runs and 16 tons in 115 Test matches for England, praised Gill further. "It has been a masterful performance from Gill - an utterly chanceless innings. He has not given England a sniff at any moment, and there has been an air of inevitability about it all. He is a gorgeous driver through the off-side, has such a flowing game," he concluded.

Gill discussed his knock after the day’s game, stating that he worked very hard to improve his batting before the five-match Test series began. "I worked on a few things before the series as well, that I thought might be important for me going into Test cricket," Gill, who also scored a century in the first Test, told Sky Sports. "Looking at the results, they are working for me," added Gill.