India captain Shubman Gill scored a superb maiden Test double-century as he again led from the front against England in the second Test at Edgbaston on Thursday.
Gill was 265 not out at tea on the second day, with his innings the cornerstone of India's imposing 564-7.
The 25-year-old Gill, in just his second Test as captain, set a new record Thursday for the highest score by an India batsman in a Test in England, surpassing the great Sunil Gavaskar's 221 at the Oval back in 1979.
Gill also received excellent support from spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja (89) and Washington Sundar in partnerships of 203 and 144 for the sixth and seventh wickets respectively.
Already a Test-best 168 not out at lunch, Gill continued to take a toll of England's attack as he once more batted in near flawless fashion.
He was especially severe on Shoaib Bashir, cover-driving the off-spinner for four and lofting him for six.
Gill also struck two fours in three balls off fast bowler Josh Tongue, an on-drive followed by a flick off the hip that saw Joe Root and Zak Crawley almost collide in a failed attempt to prevent the boundary.
A hooked single off Tongue took Gill to 200 in 311 balls, including 21 fours and two sixes, wit the elated skipper bowing to a capacity crowd in celebration.
It was occasional off-spinner Root who took the lone wicket of the session when he bowled left-hander Sundar with a delivery that turned and bounced.
India, making fine use of a flat pitch, still scored 145-1 in the 31 overs between lunch and tea.
By that stage Gill had bettered his Test-best score for the second match in a row after making 147 in last week's five-wicket loss at Headingley, where England went 1-0 up in a five-match series.
India, batting in ideal sunny conditions on Thursday, wanted even more runs from their sixth-wicket duo after collapses of 7-41 and 6-31 cost them dear at Headingley.
Jadeja went to 50 with a single off local hero Chris Woakes. Stokes introduced Bashir and set a 6-3 legside field for paceman Brydon Carse, with England trying increasingly unusual methods to make a breakthrough on a good batting pitch.
Gill's single off Bashir took him to 150. Buoyed by setting a new personal best with the largest of his seven hundreds in 34 Tests, Gill then reverse-swept Bashir for four.
Jadeja lofted Bashir for six to bring up India's 400 and Gill raised the sixth-wicket duo's 200-run stand in style by slog-sweeping the spinner for another six.
But 10 minutes before lunch, Jadeja gloved a short ball from Tongue to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. He faced 137 balls, striking 10 fours and a six.
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