Follow UsShubman Gill is turning his first Test as captain into a memorable one, as he has smashed a quick-fire fifty against England in the first Test at Headingley on June 20 (Friday). He got to his fifty of just 56 deliveries - his fastest in Test cricket.
In doing so, he has slammed his first fifty in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) since he scored a 91 against Australia in Brisbane in 2021. His knock played a key role in helping India win the match and, with that, the series as well.
Coming back to the Headingley Test, the England bowlers, especially the pacers, bowled extremely full to him, bowling half the deliveries full. Gill took full toll of such deliveries and dispatched them for boundaries with minimum fuss.
Gill, therefore, became the youngest Indian captain to score a Test fifty against England.
25y 285d - Shubman Gill vs ENG, Leeds, 2025
26y 174d - Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Leeds, 1967
27y 168d - Mohammed Azharuddin, Lord's, 1990
29y 269d - Virat Kohli, Birmingham, 2018
He also joined an elite list of Indian captains to score 50-plus on Test debut. The last one was KL Rahul against South Africa in 2022.
Vijay Merchant - 164* vs ENG, Delhi, 1951
Hemu Adhikari - 63 vs WI, Delhi, 1959
Nari Contractor - 62 vs PAK, Mumbai, 1960
Chandu Borde - 69 vs AUS, Adelaide, 1967
Sunil Gavaskar - 116 vs NZ, Auckland, 1976
Sourav Ganguly - 84 vs BAN, Dhaka, 2000
Virat Kohli - 115 vs AUS, Adelaide, 2014
KL Rahul - 50 vs SA, Johannesburg, 2022
Shubman Gill - 52* vs ENG, Leeds, 2025
Earlier today, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and put India into bat. Openers Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal put on 91 for the first wicket - the highest by an Indian opening pair at Headingley - before England bounced back with two quick wickets.
Since then, Gill and Jaiswal have steadied the ship, and their partnership has gone past 100, taking the attack to the hosts.