Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 12 (ANI): Ahead of South Africa's first Test against India, star Proteas player Aiden Markram acknowledged the excellent run of form of Indian skipper Shubman Gill in red-ball cricket, saying that scoring runs in England is a 'feather in the cap' for the young captain.

The first Test between India and South Africa will take place at Kolkata's Eden Gardens from Friday. Gill has had a magnificent run in Test cricket so far, including a record-breaking 754 runs in five matches in England, his maiden series as a Test captain, which included four centuries and a best score of 269. During the course of the series, Shubman broke several records held by Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and displayed immaculate technique against English bowlers.

'You score red-ball runs in England, that is a big feather in your cap, and he did just that. He deserves it,' Markram said, according to X handle of Star Sports.

Gill is enjoying a purple patch in Tests this year, scoring 979 runs in 15 innings at an average of 69.92, with a strike rate of over 63, including five centuries and a fifty, with the best score of 269 runs.

Markram further said that their side's ICC World Test Championship win over Australia this year, their first-ever world title across all formats, gives the team 'a lot of belief and confidence'.

'I am still convinced no one really gave us a chance before that final. That is a fair point, because the Australian team is an unbelievable one. For us as a group, it gave us a great deal of confidence and belief. When you become a champion, you want to do it again and again. I think that is a really good test of the group,' he said.

Markram said that if they want to defend their title, they will have to win in tough Indian conditions.

'Again, it is an opportunity that we look forward to. It is an opportunity to do something special as a group in conditions that are very foreign to us and very different, yet one that we still believe we can do a good job in,' he concluded.

India Test squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep

South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne

Series schedule:

First Test - November 14-18, KolkataSecond Test - November 22-26, Guwahati. (ANI)