Manchester [UK], July 27 : At the historic Old Trafford in Manchester, Shubman Gill carved his name alongside legends as he smashed his fourth century of the series, a superbly composed 103 on the final day of the fourth Test against England, while India is still trailing by 88 runs.
With this hundred, Gill has now joined Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar as the only captains in Test history to score four centuries in a single series. Bradman had done it in the 1947-48 home series against India, while Gavaskar lit up the 1978-79 home series against the West Indies, but Gill has made this landmark on away soil and in his debut Test series as captain.
No other player has ever scored four centuries in their first Test series as captain. The previous best stood at three, a mark shared by five greats of the game: Warwick Armstrong, Don Bradman, Greg Chappell, Virat Kohli, and Steven Smith. Gill, still just 25, has now gone one better and etched his name in history with a performance that has matched the game's finest.
This Manchester century also holds personal and national significance. Gill's 103 is the first century by an Indian at Old Trafford in 35 years since a young Sachin Tendulkar's iconic 119 in 1990. In terms of overall World Test Championship (WTC) numbers, Gill's record continues to grow stronger. He now has nine centuries in the WTC era, equalling Rohit Sharma's tally, although Gill has done it in just 67 innings compared to Rohit's 69.
As the series stands, Gill has already amassed an unbeaten 722 runs, surpassing Yashasvi Jaiswal's 712 against England at home just last year. Only Sunil Gavaskar has scored more in a single Test series for India, with his 774 runs in the 1971 away tour of the West Indies and 732 at home in 1978-79. With the fifth Test still to come, Gill has every chance of surpassing both of Gavaskar's legendary marks.
At lunch, India are 223/4, Washington Sundar (21*) and Ravindra Jadeja (0*) are at the crease, and they need to build a partnership on the final day of the fourth Test in Manchester.
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