Shubman Gill vrooms past Sachin Tendulkar, breaks Virat Kohli's record with maiden Test century as India captain

Gill, who broke records for fun in the his first series as the Indian Test captain and that too in England, continued the same even in his first series as captain at home.

It was Gill's fifth Test century as captain in only 12 innings, making him the second-fastest Indian and the third overall to reach the milestone. Only Alastair Cook (nine innings) and Sunil Gavaskar (10 innings) had reached five centuries faster than Gill's 12.

This was also only the third instance of an Indian captain notching up five Test centuries in a calendar year. Only Virat Kohli had done it twice but Gill became the fastest to do so as Kohli had taken 18 innings. Sachin Tendulkar had scored four Test centuries as captain in 1997.

Five Test hundreds in a calendar year by an Indian captain

Virat Kohli in 2017

Virat Kohli in 2018

Shubman Gill in 2025

Gill has already scored 933 runs as India's Test captain at a staggering average of 84.

This was also Gill's highest individual score in home Tests, going past 128 against Australia in Ahmedabad in 2023.

Gill, who resumed the day on 20, hit 16 elegant boundaries and two sixes. He brought up the milestone with a boundary off left-arm spinner Khary Pierre and raised his bat to loud cheers from a near-packed weekend crowd in Delhi.

The 24-year-old stitched together important partnerships throughout the day, including a brisk 91-run stand with Nitish Kumar Reddy (43) and a 102-run fifth-wicket partnership with wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who contributed a fluent 44.

Earlier in the day, India suffered an early jolt when Jaiswal, who had batted all of Day 1 to reach 175*, was run out in a moment of miscommunication with Gill. Attempting a risky single, Jaiswal charged down after punching a delivery to mid-off, but Gill did not respond and the left-hander was left stranded. The mix-up denied the young opener a well-deserved double century, ending a sparkling innings that had set the tone for India’s dominance.

Despite the setback, Gill remained composed and methodically built his innings, rotating strike and putting away loose deliveries with ease. His straight drives and late cuts stood out as he kept the scoreboard ticking.

West Indies bowlers, who looked deflated after a long day in the field on Friday, struggled to maintain control. Jomel Warrican was the standout among them, picking up three wickets, including the key dismissals of Reddy and KL Rahul. He also watched in frustration as Anderson Phillip dropped a sitter to reprieve Reddy on 20.

Gill eventually called time on India’s innings after Jurel was bowled by Roston Chase with a delivery that kept low, ending the session on a high and giving India ample time to attack with the ball.

Having won the first Test by an innings, India now find themselves in a commanding position to sweep the two-match series, with their captain leading by example.

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