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Shubman Gill Joins Virat Kohli With Classy Century On His Test Captaincy Debut vs England

Aashay Chopade

Shubman Gill after his century (AP Photos)Shubman Gill after his century (AP Photos)

Shubman Gill has started his Test captaincy journey with a brilliant century on the opening day of the first Test between India and England at the Headingley. The hundred makes him just the fourth Indian batter to score a Test century in his debut innings as captain.

Ahead of the tour, many questions were raised concerning Shubman Gill's Test batting credentials and, consequently, his promotion as a captain in the longest format. However, the batter has silenced critics by showing his class in the very first game, hitting a century off just 140 balls.

Shubman Gill's Flawless Century Propels India To Pole Position On Opening Day

The right-handed batter walked out to bat at number 4, a position that Virat Kohli occupied in the last 12 years. Thus, Gill had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and he looked in complete control right from the onset. He found boundaries at regular intervals and had a false-shot rate of just 8.5 percent across his innings, according to the data from CricViz.

Hundred In Debut Innings As India's Test captain

  • 164*Vijay Hazare vs Eng Delhi 1951
  • 116 Sunil Gavaskar vs NZ Auckland 1976
  • 115 Virat Kohli vs Aus Adelaide 2014
  • 127*Shubman Gill vs Eng Headingley 2025

The right-handed batter also got to his century with a lovely drive through the cover-point region and has shown the world that he has the talent to succeed in English conditions. This is Shubman Gill's first century in UK, and he would like to make it a big one to make sure that India continue to dominate in this opening Test at the Headingley in Leeds.

India ended Day 1 at 359 for three and their captain is batting on 127 while the vice-captain, Rishabh Pant, is unbeaten on 65. The pitch looks pretty flat to bat, and thus, India would be hoping to put a big first innings total on the board and put England on the backfoot on the second day as well.