Follow UsWhen the BCCI announced Shubman Gill as the new Indian Test skipper, plenty of eyebrows were raised. Not only did Gill not have any prior captaincy experience in Tests, his spot in the team was barely safe when he was appointed skipper. In fact, two Tests before being named skipper, Gill had been axed from the starting XI in the MCG Test against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
But walking into the new job under extreme pressure, Gill produced one of the greatest ever performances by any batter in history to stamp his authority and let the world know that his era had begun.
The 25-year-old began his captaincy stint with a ton, and eventually finished with an astonishing 754 runs in five matches, this despite enduring twin failures in the fifth Test at The Oval.
Gill broke not one or two but countless records through the course of the series.
> Most runs for a visiting captain in a Test series (754)
> Second most runs for an Indian batter in a Test series (after Sunil Gavaskar’s 774)
> First visiting captain to hit 4 centuries in a Test series
> Most runs by an Indian batter in a single Test match (430 at Edgbaston)
> Second-most runs by any batter in a Test match (after Graham Gooch’s 456)
> First player to hit a double century and a 150+ score in a Test match - (269 & 161 at Edgbaston)
> Highest individual score by an India captain in Tests (269 at Edgbaston)
> Highest individual score for an Indian in SENA (269 at Edgbaston)
> Highest individual score by an Indian batter at #4 position (269 at Edgbaston)
> Fifth player to score double centuries in both Tests and ODIs
> Second-most runs by a captain in a Test series (after Sir Don Bradman 810 in 1936/37)