Gill's masterclass in Edgbaston breaks flurry of records, leapfrogs Sachin and Kohli

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) Shubman Gill's batting masterclass in the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy made the India skipper break a flurry of records, overtaking the greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

India beat England by 336 runs to get their first-ever Test match win at Edgbaston, a venue where they had not won a Test before. This win in Birmingham was also India’s biggest away Test win in terms of runs and also Gill's maiden as a Test captain. He was super with a bat, hitting 269 and 161 for a total record of 430 runs, the second most runs in a single Test, just 26 behind Graham Gooch (456), which he, coincidentally, hit against India in 1990.

His 269 in the first innings at Edgbaston was the highest individual Test score for an Indian batter in England. He also achieved the feat of the highest score by an India captain in Tests, surpassing Kohli's unbeaten 254 against South Africa in Pune in 2019.

He also became the second batter to make two 150-plus scores in a Test, after Allan Border, who scored 150* and 153 against Pakistan in Lahore in 1980.

Gill's 269 is also the highest by an Indian batter in Tests outside Asia, leapfrogging Tendulkar's 241 not out at the SCG in 2004 - which was the previous highest. This was also just the second Test double century by an India skipper away from home, with Kohli having achieved the feat against the West Indies in 2016.

In the process, he also broke Tendulkar's 21-year-old record of having the highest score by an Indian batter in overseas (barring other Asian countries) conditions.

Gill has been in phenomenal form in the first two matches of the series. He has accumulated 585 runs at an average of 146.25 in just four innings so far and is the leading run-getter in the series.

With 585 runs, he recorded the highest tally in the first two Tests as captain, bettering Kohli, who scored 449 runs. Moreover, it is the second-highest aggregate in the first two matches of a series, behind Graeme Smith's 621 in England in 2003. He also achieved the feat of scoring the most runs in a captaincy debut series.

He is the first Indian and only the fifth batter to be part of four century stands in a Test. The others are: Hanif Mohammad (vs West Indies in 1958), Graham Gooch (vs India in 1990), Mark Taylor (vs Pakistan in 1998) and Joe Root (vs Pakistan in 2016).

Gill stitched a 203-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja for the seventh wicket and then made a 144-run partnership with Washington Sundar in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test. The Indian captain was also involved in two three-figure stands with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja in the second innings.

Gill is also the second Indian with hundreds in both innings of a Test in England, after Rishabh Pant, who achieved the feat in the series opener at Headingley.

The 25-year-old became the third Indian captain with hundreds in both innings of a Test after Gavaskar and Kohli. Gavaskar scored 107 and 182 not out against West Indies at Eden Gardens in 1978 and Kohli scored 115 and 141 against Australia in Adelaide in 2014.

--IANS

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