India captain Shubman Gill led from the front and smashed his maiden double hundred on Day 2 of the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Brimingham on Thursday. The feat saw Gill become the third Indian to register a double century in England, which he reached by pulling a delivery by Josh Tongue towards fine leg for a single. Before Gill, batting greats Sunil Gavaskar (221 – at The Oval in 1979) and Rahul Dravid (217 – at The Oval in 2002) were the only Indians who had smashed double hundreds in England.
Not just that, at the age of 25 years and 298 days, Gill also became the second youngest batsman to score a Test double hundred as India captain. He is only behind the legendary Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who was 23 years and 39 days old when he had hit a double hundred against England at Delhi in 1964.
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Pataudi and Gill are followed by Sachin Tendulkar (26 years and 189 days - vs New Zealand at Ahmedabad in 1999) and Virat Kohli (27 years and 260 days - vs West Indies at North Sound in 2016).
Meanwhile, eleven captains have scored double hundreds in Test matches in England, four from the home team and seven from the visiting side.
Gill also became the first Asian captain to smash a double hundred in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia). The previous best was 193 by Tillakaratne Dilshan at Lord’s in 2011.
He also surpassed Mohammad Azharuddin among the Indian captains with the highest individual score in English shores. Gill was dismissed for 269(387) and the previous best was 179, which Azharuddin scored at Old Trafford, Manchester in 1990.
When he reached 222, Gill overtook Gavaskar’s 221 – at The Oval in 1979 - to register the best score by an Indian batsman in England in Tests.
Gill also became the first Indian batsman to hit 250 outside the subcontinent. The previous best was Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 241 against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2004.
Gill's performance has given India an edge as the visitors look to square things up after enduring a five-wicket loss in the series opener at Headingley, Leeds.
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