Indian batters struggled to survive on the green pitch at the Oval on Day 1, Karun Nair stepped on his probably last chance and saved India from collapsing. He achieves a fifty-plus score in international cricket after nine years, against the same opponent.
Dear cricket, Thanks for the chance
Karun Nair shared an emotional post on social media like three years ago, saying, ” Dear Cricket, please give me one more chance”. He finally got it and proved himself in the domestic circuit in the last season, and played some memorable knocks in the IPL as well.
He earned the Indian test team call-up after eight long years. He played in the first three matches but couldn’t make a bigger impact. He got starts, but failed to convert them into bigger ones. He came to bat in a tricky situation of 83/3, on the probably toughest pitch of this series.
He showed his seniority and experience, hanging in the crease and scoring runs. He converted his start into a half-century this time, and remained not out till the end of the day, carrying the hopes of the Indian team on Day 2 along with Washington Sundar.
This is only his second fifty-plus score in test cricket, and his first since his triple century against the same opponent at Chennai in 2016. He took a long gap of 3148 days to score his second fifty-plus score in this format. He converted his first into a triple ton and will be looking to convert this one into a triple-digit score as well.
Captain Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill got out for 21 runs in the first innings. He now holds the record for most runs scored by an Indian captain in a test series. He broke the 47-year-old record of Sunil Gavaskar.
Most runs scored by Indian captains in a test series:
- Shubman Gill – 743 vs England ( 2025 )
- Sunil Gavaskar – 732 vs West Indies ( 1978/79 )
- Virat Kohli – 655 vs England ( 2016 )
- Virat Kohli – 610 vs Sri Lanka ( 2017/18 )
- Virat Kohli – 593 vs England ( 2018 )
He is in the third place in the overall list of most runs scored by a captain in a test series. He requires 68 runs in the second innings to beat the 89-year-old record of Don Bradman to score most runs by a captain in a test series.
Most runs scored by a captain in a test series:
- Don Bradman – 810 vs England ( 1936/37 )
- Graham Gooch – 752 vs India ( 1990 )
- Shubman Gill – 743 vs England ( 2025 )
- Sunil Gavaskar – 732 vs West Indies ( 1978/79 )
- David Gower – 732 vs Australia ( 1985 )
- Garry Sobers – 722 vs England ( 1966 )
Runout
Gill started well in the first innings, and was looking confident in his stroke making, but unfortunately ended his innings in a runout. He became the fifth Indian captain to be dismissed in a runout in test cricket.
Indian captains to be dismisdes for a runout in tests:
- MS Dhoni ( 2010, 2012, 2014 )
- Virat Kohli ( 2020 )
- Ajinkya Rahane ( 2020 )
- Rohit Sharma ( 2023 )
- Shubman Gill ( 2025 )
1000 for KL Rahul
KL Rahul was dismissed for 14 runs in the first innings, but he achieved a rare feat as an Indian opener. He faced more than 1000 balls in this series so far, becoming only the third Indian opener to achieve this feat in a test series.
Indian openers to face more than 1000 balls in a test series:
- Sunil Gavaskar vs ENG ( 1976 )
- Sunil Gavaskar vs AUS ( 1977 )
- Sunil Gavaskar vs ENG ( 1979 )
- Sunil Gavaskar vs PAK ( 1979 )
- Sunil Gavaskar vs ENG ( 1981 )
- Murali Vijay vs ENG ( 2014 )
- KL Rahul vs ENG ( 2025 )
Sunil Gavaskar is the only Indian opener to achieve this feat in multiple series, doing it for a record five times. All the three Indian openers who has achieved this feat have done this against England.
Also Read: ENG vs IND: Karun Nair’s Gritty 52 Rescues India On Day 1 At The Oval