'Shubman Gill 269, honestly looked he could have got Brian Lara's record': Stuart Broad

Shubman Gill accumulated 430 runs in both innings combined at Edgbaston (BCCI Photo)

Amid the talk surrounding Wiaan Mulder's choice to declare South Africa's innings while batting at 367 in order to maintain Brian Lara's record Test score of 400, former England cricketer Stuart Broad acknowledged that India captain Shubman Gill appeared ready to challenge that record during his first-innings knock at Edgbaston last week.

In the second Test against England in Birmingham, Gill spearheaded the Indian batting attack with a marathon effort of 269 runs, helping India win by 336 runs to level the series. Speaking on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, Broad stated that he believed Gill could have equaled Lara's accomplishment, even though the 25-year-old smashed numerous records.

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"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 269, honestly it looked like he could have got Lara's record," he said.

Following Virat Kohli's retirement from the format in May, Broad praised India's choice to have Gill take his spot at No. 4. Gill began his career as an opener before switching to the No. 3 spot after Cheteshwar Pujara lost his place in the Test lineup.

"He was just cruising. It didn't look like anything could trouble him. Goodness me that move to four, spent most of his career opening the batting, moved to number four since Kohli has retired and gone to a hundred, big double, big 150. Looks like he's got no weaknesses at all," he added.

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Gill finished with 430 runs, the best score by an Indian in a single Test match, after adding 161 more runs in the second innings. After Gill helped India set a target of 608, Akash Deep took six wickets to bowl England out of the match.

"England could have drawn it (Test). They had to bat 80-odd overs due to the rain. I think they'll be a bit disappointed they didn't manage to do that. There was nothing in the surface that was a really sort of worn fifth-day pitch. They'll be disappointed they didn't show a little more craft in the defence," Broad said.