Captain Gill breaks records of Azhar, Gavaskar; England 77/3 after India post 587

Captaincy can be a burden or bring out the best in a player. Shubman Gill found the second part to be true in his case, so far away from home in Birmingham. The India No. 4 followed up on his overnight century by reaching a fantastic double hundred on Day 2 of the second Test on the Edgbaston Cricket Ground on Thursday.

Only in his third innings as India's Test captain, Gill broke a handful of records, including the best score by an Indian batter and the highest by an Indian skipper on English soil. The stylish right-hander made 269 off 387, hitting 30 boundaries during his 500-minute stay in the middle.

India posted a massive 587 with valuable contributions coming from Ravindra Jadeja (89), Yashasvi Jaiswal (87) and Washington Sundar (42). Spinner Shoaib Bashir finished with 3/167, while Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue bagged two wickets each.

England made a disastrous start, going from 13/1 to 25/3 in 7 overs. Akash Deep, who has replaced Jasprit Bumrah, removed Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett, both for ducks, and Zak Crawley (19) edged a Mohammed Siraj delivery to Karun Nair in the first slip. England ended the day without any further damages, with Harry Brook (30) joined by Joe Root (18), taking them to 77/3.

Earlier, Gill's innings was the highlight of India's brilliant first innings. Mohammad Azharuddin's 179 at Manchester in 1990 was the previous best score by an Indian skipper in England. Gill, who was born in 1999, also features twice in the top-five scores by Indian skippers as his 147 from the first Test was only bettered by Virat Kohli (Birmingham, 2018), 149 and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (Leeds, 1967), 148.

Gill waited on 199 for three overs as Washington Sundar kept the strike, before reaching the milestone with a double off Josh Tongue. But since then, the stylish right-hander batted like he was on the nets. Gill hit Shoaib Bashir for consecutive boundaries, including one with a reverse sweep.

He then hit a hat-trick of fours against Harry Brook, the last one straight down the ground, like Sachin Tendulkar used to. That four got him to 222, which broke the great Sunil Gavaskar's record score of 221 (The Oval, 1979), the previous best by an Indian in Tests in England. Only three Indians have scored double hundreds in England; the other one was Rahul Dravid, 217 (The Oval, 2002).

Kohli's seven double hundreds are the most by an Indian skipper in Tests. Gill has joined an elite list of Indian captains, comprising M S Dhoni, Tendulkar, Gavaskar and Pataudi, with double centuries in Tests.

On the second day, Gill batted responsibly, taking calculated risks and, more importantly, building partnerships with the lower middle order, which had been found lacking in the first Test at Headingley, which the hosts won by five wickets.

At Leeds, India had three centurions, including Gill (147), but a middle-order collapse restricted the total to 471. Here, the skipper's double ton, aided by an improved performance from the middle order, put the visitors in a significantly better position in search of levelling the five-match series.

Brief scores: India 587 in 151 overs (Shubman Gill 269, Ravindra Jadeja 89, Yashasvi Jaiswal 87, Washington Sundar 42, Shoaib Bashir 3/167, Chris Woakes 2/81, Josh Tongue 2/119) vs England 77/3 in 20 overs (Harry Brook 30 not out, Akash Deep 2/36). Stumps on Day 2