IND vs ENG: Shubman Gill creates history, joins Virat Kohli, Sunil Gavaskar in elite list; becomes fourth Indian Test skipper to...

On Wednesday (July 2), Shubman Gill etched his name into the annals of cricket history by becoming the fourth Indian, following in the footsteps of Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virat Kohli, to achieve a century in his first two Tests as captain. His century on Day 1 of the second Test between India and England at Edgbaston in Birmingham marks Gill’s second century as the captain of the Indian Test team in just two matches. He made his debut as Test captain for India against England at Headingley in Leeds where he scored 147 runs in the first innings.

Gill reached the 100-run milestone by striking a four off Joe Root on the final ball of the 80th over during India’s first innings. It took him 199 balls and included 11 fours to achieve the 100-run mark in Tests for the seventh time in his career.

Vijay Hazare was the pioneer Indian captain to score two centuries in his first two Tests.

He recorded a score of 164* in his inaugural Test as captain against England at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi (November 1951), and in his second Test as India’s captain against England at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai (December 1951), he amassed 155 runs in the first innings.

Gavaskar made his debut as India’s captain in a Test against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland in January 1976, scoring 116 runs in the first innings. His second Test as captain was against the West Indies at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai (December 1978), where he scored 205 runs in the first innings and 78 in the second.

Kohli achieved twin centuries (115 and 141) in his first Test as India’s captain (against Australia at Adelaide Oval in December 2014) and scored 147 runs in the first innings of his second Test against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2015.

The century scored on Wednesday in Birmingham is Gill’s fourth Test century against England in the 12 matches he has played so far. He also scored a couple of centuries for India during the five-match series held last year in India. In the World Test Championship, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, and Steve Smith have also each scored four centuries against the English team.

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