Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel praised Test captain Shubman Gill for his outstanding performance in the recent England series that ended in a 2-2 draw, where Gill amassed 754 runs at an average of 75.40 with four centuries, including a career-best 269.Gill’s performance marked the second-highest run total by an Indian in a Test series, trailing only Sunil Gavaskar’s 774 runs against West Indies in 1971. It was also the second-highest runs by a captain in a Test series after Don Bradman’s 810 runs against England in 1936/37.The Indian skipper surpassed Yashasvi Jaiswal’s previous record of 712 runs against England, setting a new benchmark for most runs by an Indian in a series against England.Prior to this series, Gill had struggled outside Asia, failing to score above 40 runs since his notable 91-run innings against Australia at Brisbane in 2021, despite getting several good starts.
“Four centuries, an average of 75.40, and more than 750 runs — all scored across different conditions. Earlier, when he walked out to bat, there were questions: Will he be able to perform in the SENA countries? Can he deliver consistently? But look at the answers he has given. 147 runs in the first innings at Headingley. In the second innings, people said he threw his wicket away after that big score,” Parthiv said on ‘Follow The Blues’.“Then came 269 runs in the first innings at Edgbaston. Again, the talk was that it might prove to be less, but he followed it up with 161 in the second innings. In the third Test, he got out early in both innings, and questions about his form began again, even though he had already scored 430 runs in the previous match. And then came that hundred in Manchester, in a match India needed to draw. Whenever there’s been a challenge, whenever questions have been asked, Gill has answered them perfectly with his bat,” Parthiv added.
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Gill’s performance surpassed his idol Virat Kohli’s record for the most successful SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) tour by an Indian batter. Kohli previously held this record with 692 runs in four Tests against Australia in 2014.The series also saw Gill cross the 6,000-run milestone in international cricket. His career statistics now stand at 6,000 runs in 118 matches at an average of 46.15, with 18 centuries and 25 fifties.In Test cricket specifically, Gill has accumulated 2,615 runs at an average of 41.35 in 37 Tests and 69 innings, including nine centuries and seven fifties.
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