Don Bradman's record in threat: Can Shubman Gill do the unthinkable in England?

The ongoing series between India and England has turned into the Shubman Gill show (BCCI Photo)

In the 148 years that Test cricket has been played, there have been as many as 82 instances of a batsman scoring 600 or more runs in a series. In that illustrious list, the name ‘Donald George Bradman’ features an astonishing six times. The 974 runs he made in England in the Ashes series of 1930 has never been matched. For India, the record remains the 774 runs Sunil Gavaskar scored in his debut series in the Caribbean in 1970-71.

India first played a Test in England 93 years ago, a decade and a half before independence. It’s a measure of how tough Indian batsmen have found English conditions that only one has crossed 600 runs in a series in England. Rahul Dravid did that in only six innings in the 2002 series. Virat Kohli came close in 2018, when he tallied 593 across five Tests.

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Just four innings into this series, Shubman Gill is on the brink of smashing those records. So far, he has scored 585 runs — making 147, 8, 269 and 161, and batting with a composure and mastery reminiscent of the all-time greats. If the previous series between these two sides was all about Yashasvi Jaiswal – 712 runs from five Tests – this one has rapidly turned into the Gill show.

But it’s not just Indian records in England that are under threat. Gavaskar’s 774 is now well within reach, and if the pitches at Lord’s, Old Trafford and The Oval turn out to be as batting-friendly as Edgbaston, then even Bradman’s numbers may not be safe. There is another record too that Gill could set his sights on, one that’s something of a Holy Grail.

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Not even Bradman made five centuries in a Test series. He made four in a series three times. But Clyde Walcott, one of the legendary "three Ws", went one better when Australia toured in 1955, smashing five centuries in 10 innings on his way to 827 runs. In the 70 years since, many a batting legend has tried without coming close.

Before the start of this tour, there was even talk of whether Gill merited a place in the squad. He averaged a modest 35 at that point, and had never made a century outside the subcontinent. Now, he has as many centuries in England as Sourav Ganguly, and is just one short of Sachin Tendulkar and Dilip Vengsarkar. Only Dravid (six hundreds) remains out of reach. For now.