The National Times - India captain Gill piles on the runs against England with second Test double century

Gill, a Test-best 168 not out at lunch on the second day, 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, with India then 472-6 as the elated skipper bowed to a capacity crowd in celebration.

It was not long before the 25-year-old Gill, in just his second Test as captain, set a new record 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.

England were reduced to bringing on part-time medium-pacer Harry Brook in a desperate bid to 'buy' a wicket but Gill struck him for three successive fours -- the best a textbook straight drive.

When Ravindra Jadeja was out earlier for a well-made 89 to end an excellent sixth-wicket stand of 203 with Gill, the innings might have fallen away.

But recalled all-rounder Washington Sundar, who has a highest Test score of 96 not out, gave fine support to his skipper and hit several boundaries of his own.

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, again sent into bat by England captain Ben Stokes, resumed on 310-5.

Gill was 114 not out after becoming just the seventh player to score a century in each of his first two (or more) Tests as captain.

It was also, statistically at least, the most secure Test hundred on record in England since analysts Cricviz began recording such statistics in 2006.

On Wednesday, Gill's false shot percentage was just 3.5 percent. The average when making a hundred in England is 12 percent.

Yashasvi Jaiswal contributed a typically entertaining 87 before Jadeja (41 not out) joined forces with Gill in a partnership worth 99 at Wednesday's close.

But India, batting in ideal sunny conditions on Thursday, now wanted even more runs from their fifth-wicket 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 before celebrating with his trademark 'sword dance' wave of the bat to huge cheers from the large number of India fans in the crowd.

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.

F.Morgan--TNT