CHANDIGARH: India captain Shubman Gill continued his remarkable rise in Test cricket by producing a brilliant century against Afghanistan and entering an exclusive club of cricket’s greatest leaders.
Gill scored 126 on Day 2 of the one-off Test on Sunday, registering his sixth century as India’s Test captain. The innings also took him past 1,000 Test runs as skipper, a landmark achieved at a staggering average of 82.76.
Among the 101 captains in Test history to score at least 1,000 runs, only the legendary Sir Don Bradman boasts a higher batting average than Gill. No other captain has maintained an average above 70 after reaching the milestone, with former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara next on the list at 69.6.
The century further highlighted Gill’s growing influence as a leader and batter. By reaching 1,000 runs in just 15 innings as captain, he became the second-fastest Indian skipper to achieve the feat, trailing only the iconic Sunil Gavaskar, who got there in 14 innings.
Gill’s latest masterclass not only strengthened India’s position in the match but also underlined his place among the most prolific captains the game has seen. At a relatively early stage of his captaincy career, the 26-year-old is already rewriting record books and drawing comparisons with some of cricket’s most celebrated names.
