"The King is dead, long live the King" - Former England player's huge claim on Shubman Gill taking over from Virat Kohli amid ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Former England cricketer David Lloyd hailed India's captain Shubman Gill for seamlessly replacing the legendary Virat Kohli in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. After a record-breaking 269 in the first innings, Gill displayed incredible hunger and endurance to score another sublime 161 in the second innings as India took control of the ongoing second Test at Edgbaston.

The discussions surrounding the Indian skipper in the build-up to the England tour centered on his taking over the No. 4 position from Kohli, who announced his retirement from Test cricket in May. However, nine days of action later, Gill's bat has silenced any doubts about his place in the Indian Test side.

In his column for the Daily Mail at the end of Day 4 of the second Test, Lloyd wrote:

"People say world-class players are irreplaceable, but are they? This is a real case of ‘The King is dead, long live the King.’ Shubman Gill has taken over seamlessly from one of the greatest modern batsmen in Virat Kohli and in style too. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant is always box office and has taken India to the next level after MS Dhoni."

Gill's 430 runs in a Test match is the second all-time by a batter behind only Graham Gooch's 456 against India in 1990. The youngster also broke several other records, including becoming the highest Indian scorer in an innings with his 269 in the first innings.

Shubman Gill's heroics has India within striking distance of victory

Shubman Gill's record-breaking outing has Team India within striking distance of a memorable victory in Edgbaston. Despite dominating the series opener at Leeds, India suffered a heartbreaking five-wicket defeat to go 0-1 down in the best-of-five affair.

However, the visitors have not put a foot wrong in the ongoing Edgbaston outing, dominating with bat and ball. After scoring 587 in the first innings, India restricted the hosts to 407 in response. They added another 427 in their second essay before declaring and setting England a massive 608 for victory. Inspired by their skipper's batting heroics, the Indian bowlers reduced England to 72/3 at stumps on Day 4.

While England require an improbable 536 runs on the final day to take a 2-0 series lead, India need seven wickets to draw level at 1-1.