The young Indian team began their England tour with a statement, announcing the arrival of a new era in Indian Test cricket. This team has a long way to go on this journey. Shubman Gill & Yashasvi Jaiswal notched up centuries and looked in complete control of the innings after being asked to bat first by England.
Captain’s Knock by Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill faced a lot of criticism after being appointed as the captain of the Indian test match last month. He was pointed out for averaging less than 30 runs in overseas test matches, and critics called it ‘too early to appoint him as a captain.
Shubman Gill responded to all the criticism with a fantastic century in his first innings as captain, continuing the legacy of Virat Kohli. He remained not out till the end of the first day with 127 runs from 175 balls. He became the 3rd youngest Indian captain to score a overseas century.
Youngest Indian captains to score an overseas century :
- Sachin Tendulkar – 23 years, 253 days
- Kapil Dev – 24 years, 64 days
- Shubman Gill – 25 years, 285 days
- Virat Kohli – 26 years, 34 days
He also became the 4th Indian captain to score a century on debut innings as a captain.
Indian Captains to score a century on captaincy debut :
- Vijay Hazare – 1951
- Sunil Gavaskar – 1976
- Virat Kohli – 2014
- Shubman Gill – 2025
Gill became the 5th Indian captain to score a test century in England.
Indian captains to score a hundred in England :
- MAK Pataudi – 1967
- Mohammed Azharuddin – 1990 ( twice )
- Sourav Ganguly – 2002
- Virat Kohli – 2018 ( twice )
- Shubman Gill – 2025
Just miss by Yashasiv Jaiswal
Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his fifth test century and third against England. He had converted all of his previous four centuries into 150s. This is the first in test cricket he has been dismissed below 150 after scoring a century ( 101 ). He missed a great record of becoming the first batter to convert his first 5 test hundreds into 150s.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Greame Smith have converted their first 4 test hundreds into 150s.
Record breaking day 1 for India
India posted 359/3 in 85 overs on the first day. This is India’s highest score on Day 1 in England. The previous best was when they scored 338/7 at edgbasten in 2022.
This is also the second highest total by a visiting team in England on day 1. South Africa scored 362/4 at Oval in 2003 and that record remains at the top.
Auspicious debut for Sai Sudharsan
Sai Sudarshan made his test debut and became the 317th test player for India. He made his debut on 20th June, the day where many Indian legends donned the whites for the first time.
Indian players to debut on 20th June :
- Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly ( 1996 )
- Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Abhinav Mukund ( 2011 )
- Sai Sudarshan ( 2025 )
He made his test debut in England, the same place where two legends of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly have started their red ball journey 29 years ago. Let’s hope he carries their legacy and proves his selection in the upcoming matches.
Also Read: ENG vs IND : Farookh Engineer Astonished Over The Absence Of Kuldeep Yadav From First Test Team