A plethora of records await India captain Shubman Gill when he takes field against England for the fifth Test match, at The Oval.
From four Test matches in the ongoing series against England, Gill has amassed 722 runs at 90.25 with four hundreds, having already equalled or broken (or both) several records en route. At The Oval, he will have eye several more.
Most hundreds in a Test series, by a captain or otherwise
At Old Trafford, Gill scored his fourth hundred of the series, something only Don Bradman (against India at home in 1947/48) and Sunil Gavaskar (against the West Indies at home in 1978/79) have done before him. Another hundred will make him the sole owner of the record.
In fact, Clyde Walcott (against Australia at home in 1955) is the only batter to have scored five hundreds in a Test series. Gill can equal and – with two hundreds – even surpass that world record.
If he does the latter, Gill will become only the second batter (after Walcott in the series mentioned above) to score a hundred in each innings in two separate Test matches in a series. He had also hit two hundreds in Edgbaston.
Most runs in a Test series by a captain
Gill needs one run to go past Garry Sobers’ record of most runs by a captain in a Test series away from home: Sobers had got 722 in England in 1966 (along with 20 wickets).
Gill also needs 89 runs to go past Bradman’s tally of 810 runs, against England at home in 1936/37. The others above Gill are Graham Gooch (752 against India at home in 1990), Gavaskar (732 against the West Indies at home in 1978/79), and David Gower (732 against Australia at home in 1985).
Most runs in a Test series for India
Gill needs 43 to break Gavaskar’s tally of 774 runs in the latter’s debut series, in the West Indies in 1971. En route, he will have to surpass only one more entry – Gavaskar’s 732 against the West Indies at home in 1978/79.
Most runs in a Test series
Bradman’s 974, in England in 1930, remains a famous world record. However, other than Wally Hammond (905 in Australia in 1928/29), no one else has more than even 850 (let alone 900). Thus, there is a realistic chance of Gill getting into the top three, if not above that.
He is currently joint 26th on the all-time list, tied with – as mentioned above – Sobers. To break into the top ten, he needs to go past 774, held by Gavaskar (in the West Indies in 1971) and Steve Smith (in England in 2019).
Play: Quiz! Most runs by a batter in a bilateral Test series
An unwanted record
Gill has already lost four tosses in the ongoing series. One more will make him the 10th captain to lose all tosses in a five-match Test series. His predecessors are Joe Darling (for Australia in England, 1905), Archie MacLaren (for England against Australia at home, 1909), Lala Amarnath (for India against the West Indies at home, 1948/49), Len Hutton (for England against Australia at home, 1953), Jackie McGlew (for South Africa in England, 1960), MJK Smith (for England in India, 1963/64), Kapil Dev (India in the West Indies, 1982/83), Alec Stewart (for England in Australia, 1998/99), and Virat Kohli (for India in England, 2018).
