India’s captain Shubman Gill celebrates after scoring a century. (AP Photo) Shubman Gill scripted history on Wednesday, becoming just the ninth visiting captain – and the second Indian – to score centuries in both the first and second Tests of a series in England, joining the exalted company of Don Bradman, Garfield Sobers, and Graeme Smith.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The 25-year-old, captaining India for the first time in Tests, followed up his 147 at Headingley with a majestic 114 not out on Day 1 at Edgbaston. His effort led India to 310/5 at stumps, stabilising the innings after a mid-innings wobble.
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The list of visiting captains with tons in each of the first two Tests in England reads like a Hall of Fame: Bradman (1938), Sobers (1966), Mohammad Azharuddin (1990), and now Gill (2025). Gill etched his name into folklore with two tons at Headingley and Edgbaston.
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Gill’s feats as captain have arrived with astonishing speed. He’s only the fourth Indian skipper to hit centuries in each of his first two Tests as captain – after Virat Kohli, Vijay Hazare, and Sunil Gavaskar. He also became just the second Indian captain to reach three figures at Edgbaston, joining Kohli, and the third to post a fifty-plus score there alongside Dhoni.Even more impressively, Gill joined an elite club of Indian batters – Azharuddin, Vengsarkar, and Rahul Dravid – to score hundreds in three consecutive Tests against England, underlining his growing stature in a marquee rivalry.Adding to the statistical spectacle, Gill also became the third India captain to score hundreds in consecutive Tests against England – after Hazare (1951–52) and Azharuddin (1990) – and reached the 2,000-run milestone in Tests in his captaincy debut, just like Kohli did in Adelaide in 2014.Gill’s innings wasn’t just about milestones – it was about leadership under pressure. Coming in at 95/2, he absorbed the pressure, stitched a 66-run stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal (87), and then an unbeaten 99-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (41*), leading from the front after a collapse that had left India at 211/5.With his century still in progress, Gill now carries not only the hopes of India’s batting but also the weight of expectation as a young captain already among cricket’s elite.
