BIRMINGHAM: India captain Shubman Gill punished England with another hundred in the second Test at Edgbaston while Rishabh Pant made them pay for dropping him twice as the tourists built a commanding position in their quest for a series-levelling win.

India were 304-4 in their second innings at tea on the fourth day, a huge lead of 484 runs.

Gill was 100 not out following his majestic 269 in the first innings.

By taking his tally in this match to 369 runs, Gill set a new record for the most runs scored in a Test by an India batsman, surpassing opening great Sunil Gavaskar’s total of 344 against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1971.

Together with Pant, who made a typically dashing 65, Gill shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 110 in just 103 balls.

Whether Gill, with India’s attack missing the rested Jasprit Bumrah, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, declares, England would need to set a new record to go 2-0 up in this five-match series.

England’s all-time record winning fourth-innings victory chase is the 378 they made against India at Edgbaston three years ago.

Gill was 24 not out at lunch, with Pant unbeaten on 41.

Yet it was Gill, who also made 147 during India’s loss in the series opener at Headingley, who got to fifty first as he showed he could up the tempo.

In the second over of the session, he hit fast bowler Josh Tongue for three consecutive boundaries.

A superb hooked six was followed by a swiped four over mid-on in almost Pant-like fashion before Gill’s scorching pull sped through England captain Ben Stokes, who got a hand to the ball but could not stop it.

Gill hooked another six off Tongue, the ball soaring over fine leg, before a flat-batted four off the paceman completed a 57-ball fifty. Tongue’s six wicketless overs immediately after lunch cost an expensive 43 runs.

Gill was again leading from the front in his debut series as skipper after he was thrust into the captaincy following former skipper Rohit Sharma’s shock retirement from Test duty in May.