Manchester: India skipper Shubman Gill continues to rewrite history with a fantastic and gritty 103 against England at Old Trafford. With his fourth ton in as many games, Gill has now tied the legendary Don Bradman for most centuries as captain in a Test series, while also becoming the first player to hit four centuries in his debut Test series as captain.
Having continued from 87, uneven bounce on a Ben Stokes delivery struck Gill on his injured right thumb and ricocheted onto his helmet, the 25-year-old stood tall and went on to notch the first century by an Indian at Old Trafford in 35 years, after Sachin Tendulkar did so in 1990. He also tied Virat Kohli and Sunil Gavaskar for most hundreds for Indian in a single Test series.
It is also the first time that he has taken more than 200 balls to score a century. He reached three figures off his 228th ball today; his previous slowest hundred came off 199, in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test.
The 25-year-old made history at Edgbaston with twin centuries – 269 and 161 – amassing 430 runs in the Test, the second-highest match aggregate in Test history.
In the end, it was Jofra Archer who struck with the new ball. Against the run of play, Gill had a lapse of concentration and lashed at the ball outside off, edging it to Jamie Smith. India are now in a spot of bother at 223/4 as they still trail by 88 runs.
With vice-captain Rishabh Pant having suffered an injury on his right foot in the first innings off Chris Woakes yorker, all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar have the task to stitch a big partnership and push for a draw.
(IANS)
