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'Shubman Gill 269 - he could've got Brian Lara’s record': Mulder chat gets a twist as India's ploy leaves Broad dazzled
Stuart Broad said Shubman Gill looked poised to break Brian Lara's 400* record during his Edgbaston knock amid Wiaan Mulder’s declaration debate.
Amid the chatter around Wiaan Mulder’s decision to preserve Brian Lara’s record Test score of 400 by declaring South Africa’s innings while batting on 367, former England cricketer Stuart Broad admitted that India captain Shubman Gill looked poised to challenge that feat during his first-innings knock at Edgbaston last week.
Gill led the Indian batting charge in Birmingham, in the second Test match against England, where he compiled a marathon knock of 269 runs in India's emphatic 336-run win to level the series. While the 25-year-old broke a plethora of records on his, Broad, speaking on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, said he felt Gill could have matched Lara's feat.
"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.
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Broad hailed India's decision to have Gill replace Virat Kohli at No. 4 after the former India captain retired from the format in May 2025. It was the second time Gill changed his batting position, having started his career as an opener, before moving to the No. 3 spot after Cheteshwar Pujara fell out of reckoning in the Test line-up.
"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.
Gill added 161 runs more in the second innings as he finished with a tally of 430 runs - the highest score by an Indian in a single Test and the most-ever by a captain in the history of the format.
His knocks helped India set a target of 608, before Akash Deep picked up a six-wicket haul to bundle England out of the contest.
"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.
Why did Mulder not chase Lara's record?
With just 34 runs shy of history, captain Mulder looked destined to become the highest individual scorer in 148 years of Test history, where 3234 men embraced the format. But on the second afternoon of the match in Bulawayo, he declared South Africa's innings after lunch, when the tourists were 626/5.
South Africa then dismissed the home team for 170 inside the third session, and enforced a follow-on. In the 16 overs of play through the remainder of the session, they picked one more wicket, and wrapped up the match by the third afternoon as South Africa won by an innings and 236 runs.
Had Mulder chased 401 on Day 2, South Africa would have been unlikely to be affected by his attempt to put himself ahead of the team. But it was a sheer act of "respect" that stopped him.
"Also, I think respecting the game is really important; letting someone like Lara keep his record," Mulder said. "He's one of the greatest to ever have played the game, so he deserves that. And, yeah, I think we're still in a great position to win the game, and that's all that matters."
