Former Indian wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel has compared Indian skipper Shubman Gill with veteran batter Virat Kohli. Patel noted that there were questions on Virat Kohli’s game when he arrived in England on the 2018 tour after a disappointing 2014 tour.
Kohli could only manage 134 runs in five Test matches on 2014 tour of England when he was trying to find his feet in foreign conditions but struggled against James Anderson. However, Kohli was able to bounce back strongly on the next tour of England in 2018 as he amassed 593 runs in five Test matches.
Similarly, Gill had managed only 88 runs in three Test matches at an average of 14.67 while playing in English conditions. However, the flamboyant batter has been able to turn the tables as he scored a fine knock of 147 runs in the first innings of the opening Test at Leeds, Headingley.
On tea on day two of the second Test match at Edgbaston, Gill is batting unbeaten on 265, which is the highest score by an Indian captain in the red-ball version.
“There is a commonality. When the 2018 tour started, here were questions if Virat Kohli can bat well and score a hundred in England. There were scars from the 2014 tour. Same thing here. Questions on Gill before this tour started that he had no hundred in SENA countries. There were questions on ability and skill. Both the batters proved it. Kohli did in 2018 and Gill has done it in 2025. There is ‘Prince’ written on his bat but he is going to be ‘King’ soon,” Parthiv said on Star Sports India.
Gill has looked in complete control during his maiden double century and has already broken multiple records. The 25-year-old has also achieved the highest score by an Indian batter in English conditions, going past Sunil Gavaskar’s 221.
At Tea, India was 564-7.