Thursday 03 / July / 2025
Birmingham : India's youngest Test skipper Shubman Gill joined an exclusive club comprising just batting maestro Virat Kohli to become just the second Indian captain to tonk a hundred at Edgbaston in a Test match.
Gill dazzled in the second Test against England in Birmingham on Wednesday with a blend of caution and aggression. He slapped a half-volley down the ground to send the ball racing away for a four to bring up his fifty in style in 125 deliveries.
With another 50-plus score under his belt, Gill joined the legendary MS Dhoni and Virat for a remarkable feat of scoring a half-century as a captain at Edgbaston in a Test match. He added another feather to his cap by becoming just the third Indian captain to hammer a half-century at Edgbaston in a Test clash.
While India lost wickets in a cluster, Gill continued to torment England with his flawless approach. He remained unfazed and continued to find gaps to keep the scoreboard ticking.
He swept Root behind square to find the boundary rope for a four and then walloped the ball to close out a memorable hundred in Birmingham. He became the fourth Indian captain to blaze his way to centuries in his first two Tests as India captain after Virat, Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar.
Gill, India's youngest Test captain, also joined batting wizards Dilip Vengsarkar, Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Azharuddin to conjure hundreds in three consecutive Tests for India against England. He got to the three-digit figures with a control of 96.5 per cent, cementing his supremacy in Birmingham.
The 25-year-old Test captain stabilised India's dwindling innings after being put to bat by England skipper Ben Stokes. With India reduced to 95/2, Gill forged a resilient 66-run stand for the third wicket with young swashbuckler Yashasvi Jaiswal.
After losing KL Rahul and Karun Nair, Gill and Jaiswal were more watchful, with the Indian skipper surviving a close call for leg-before-wicket against Chris Woakes. Gill soon took the pressure off his shoulders with two boundaries against him in the 33rd over.
Gill showed glimpses of his scorching form in the first innings of the series opener. He continued undeterred, piling up runs brick by brick and repaid the trust of the management by slamming his maiden Test century outside Asia in 140 balls, with 14 fours.
He followed the footsteps of legendary names like Vijay Hazare (1951), Sunil Gavaskar (1976), and Virat Kohli (2014), becoming the fourth Indian to reach triple figures in the first innings as Test captain. Interestingly, he also touched the 2,000 run Test mark during his debut as Test captain, just like Virat had done at Adelaide 11 years back in Australia.
