Shubman Gill breaks Don Bradman's record with 4th Test hundred in England series

India Today

7 days ago

Under heavy clouds in Manchester and with scrutiny mounting, Shubman Gill produced the defining innings of his career - a resolute, composed century that steadied India on the final day of the fourth Test and placed him in rare company. He walked in with India reeling at nought for two, having lost both openers to successive deliveries in the first over. The match was slipping away, and so, perhaps, was the series.advertisementHis captaincy had come under fire - questions around his field placements and bowling changes during England's mammoth first innings were still fresh. But Gill answered in the best possible way: with the bat, in the heat of a crisis. The 25-year-old brought up his hundred with a crisp cut through point on the final morning, having resumed on 78 after battling through two difficult sessions on Day Four with KL Rahul. There was no celebration - just a glance towards the dressing room and a tap of the bat. He knew the job was far from done.ENG vs IND, 4th Test Day 5 Live
This was Gill's fourth century of the series, making him only the third Indian to achieve the feat in a single Test series, after Sunil Gavaskar (1971, 1978) and Virat Kohli (2014-15). More significantly, he broke Don Bradman's long-standing record for most hundreds by a captain in a Test series in England. Bradman had struck four during the 1938 Ashes. Gill now stands alone.He also became the third Indian batter to cross 700 runs in a single Test series, overtaking Yashasvi Jaiswal's 712 against England at home in 2024. Only Gavaskar's 774, made during the historic 1971 tour of the West Indies, remains ahead.Gill began the innings facing a hat-trick ball, but rather than retreat, he countered. His early strokeplay was positive, using soft hands and smart footwork to keep the scoreboard ticking. As the innings wore on, he settled into the familiar rhythm of Test match batting - letting balls go, playing late, grinding England's bowlers down.This innings may rank as Gill's finest yet. The 91 he made at the Gabba in 2021 remains a career highlight, but this knock, under the weight of captaincy, in English conditions, and with India on the brink, carried a different kind of maturity.His 188-run stand with Rahul for the third wicket was a pillar of defiance. The pair absorbed pressure across two full sessions, saw off James Anderson's spells with the new ball, and gradually shifted the tone of the match. For the first time in the series, a batting pair dominated two consecutive sessions.Even a blow to his fingers late in the innings couldn't shake Gill. He looked in control throughout, rarely flustered, rarely beaten. For a player who had spoken ahead of the tour about wanting to keep captaincy and batting apart, this was a masterclass in separating roles and responsibilities.India's hopes of saving the match - and possibly the series - now rested largely on Gill's shoulders. But regardless of the result, this century may come to define his early captaincy - not for its flair, but for its timing, its substance, and the calm it brought when chaos threatened.- EndsTune In