It’s not often that you eclipse some of the legends of your country. But on Thursday, Shubman Gill would go to sleep a happy, content and proud man. Not many batters begin a tour of England with a century and better it in the next game. But Gill is cut from a different cloth. He has taken to batting after Indian Test captaincy like a fish to water. Just everything seems to be falling in place. 147 at Leeds, and now a double-century at Edgbaston, a venue where India have never won a Test match. What about his doubters, you ask? Well, it seems the cat caught their tongue.
On Day 2, Gill did something that hadn’t been done in 23 years. After Rahul Dravid’s 217 in 2002, Gill became the first Indian batter to register a double-century in England, and soon after took a slice of history with him. The year was 1979, the venue, The Oval in London. As the Test match ended in a draw, Sunil Gavaskar smashed 221 against England to record the highest score ever registered by an Indian batter. It took almost 50 years – 46 to be precise – for it to be bettered, when Gill took a single to reach 222 not out. Imagine the names that have come after Gavaskar – Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli – but none of the above names threatened that record. Until now.
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Soon after Gill broke Gavaskar’s record, the camera panned to the great man in the commentary box, where he looked on elated. Gavaskar passed a huge smile when the on-air commentator mentioned his record was surpassed, and while the two broadcasts were different, the look on the legend’s face told the story. He, for one, couldn’t be happier that his record was surpassed with him in attendance.
Watch Sunny G’s reaction below:
The Shubman Gill show
The Gill show dominated India’s solid show against England on Day 2 in Birmingham. India, resuming at 310/5, were in danger of repeating yet another batting collapse, but what transpired thereafter was something no one imagined. Gill and Ravindra Jadeja, the two overnight batters, made the most of the Edgbaston surface, which remained lifeless, to put on a partnership of 203 runs. Jadeja was marching towards what would have been his second century in England and at this venue, but fell 11 short of it for 89.
But despite the breakthrough, England’s bowlers were left gasping for breath as Gill took them on a ride. The new man in Washington Sundar, settled in beautifully at one end, allowing Gill to flex his muscles at the other. Gill’s double-century fetched him a plethora of records. He became the first Asian captain to score a double-century in England.
Gill became only the second Indian captain to achieve this feat in an overseas Test, following Virat Kohli’s 200 at North Sound in 2016. Notably, Gill is the first Asian captain to score a double hundred in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia), surpassing the previous best of 193 by Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan at Lord’s in 2011.