"Not surprised to see his numbers": Pietersen lauds Gill following his heroics in Birmingham Test

London [UK], July 9 (ANI): England's legendary batter Kevin Pietersen hailed India's Test captain Shubman Gill following his magnificent performance in both innings of the second test match at Edgbaston against the Three Lions.
Shubman Gill concluded a record-breaking Birmingham Test against England with breathtaking knocks of 269 and 161 across both innings, making him the batter with the second-highest aggregate of runs in a Test match.
While the first innings knock of 269 in 387 balls (with 30 fours and three sixes) was a marathon to tire out England bowlers simply, he pressed the accelerator in the second innings to construct a knock of 161 in 162 balls, with 13 fours and eight sixes, which was just as mesmerising.
Speaking to the media about Gill's performance, Pietersen said, "...I am not surprised to see his numbers. I put my head on a block a few years ago, saying Please, back Shubman Gill. Jacques Kallis started very slowly and turned out to be an absolute superstar...He just oozes quality."
With 430 runs across both innings, Gill has the second-highest aggregate of runs in a single Test, behind England's Graham Gooch, who had an output of 456 runs after scoring 333 and 123 against India at Lord's back in 1990.
At the moment, Gill sits at the top of the run charts in the series with 585 runs in two Tests, four innings at an average of 146.25 and an attacking strike rate of over 73, with three centuries and a marathon 269 (387 balls) at Edgbaston as his best score.
Further, the former cricketer shared his thoughts on opener KL Rahul's performance in the first two Tests of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, where he has managed to score 236 runs in the four innings at an average of 59 with the help of one hundred and a half-century each.
"He is absolute quality...It has been a wonderful journey to be able to learn so much from the modern-day players...I love the ability to tap into the modern-day player's brain and understand how it works in the modern-day game," the 45-year-old added. (ANI)