Shubman Gill raised his bat for the second time in the match as he reached another century, his third in just four innings as India’s captain. By tea on day four of the second Test against England, Gill was unbeaten on exactly 100, having steered India into a commanding position.
His innings wasn’t just a personal milestone. It lifted his match total to 369 runs, breaking Sunil Gavaskar’s long-standing record for the most runs by an Indian batter in a single Test. Gavaskar had scored 344 against the West Indies back in 1971.
India’s strategy after lunch was clear. Shift gears. Put pressure. Seal control. Gill and Rishabh Pant combined for a rapid 110-run partnership in just 103 balls. Gill, initially cautious, moved from 25 off 47 deliveries to a half-century in just 57 balls, often targeting the leg side gaps with calculated pulls against Josh Tongue.
He got to his century from 130 balls just before the tea break.
Pant didn’t last quite as long. His innings was part chaos, part brilliance. He blazed to 41 before lunch and kept the same tempo in the afternoon, adding another 24. It ended with a miscue off Shoaib Bashir, caught by Ben Duckett at long-off. Bashir’s only wicket of the innings came after Zak Crawley dropped Pant earlier, a mistake that cost England 55 runs.
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Gill’s next partner was Ravindra Jadeja, who walked in at No. 6, ahead of Nitish Kumar Reddy. Jadeja’s approach was cautious—some might say oddly passive. He remained unbeaten on 25 from 68 balls by tea, with India playing the long game.
Their partnership stood at 68 runs off 130 deliveries, a stretch that slowed the momentum but kept England’s bowlers in the dirt.
Gill’s remarkable performance adds up to 524 runs from just four innings as Test captain. If this trend continues, there’s chatter that he might get close to Don Bradman’s record of 974 runs in a single series. That feels far away, but it’s on the radar now.
At the close of the session, the focus shifted to Gill’s next move. With India’s lead growing and England staring down a world-record target, the timing of his declaration loomed. The match appears tilted, heavily, but not yet closed.
India is in control. The scoreboard reflects it. But so does the body language—of both teams.
