Shubman Gill breaks Gary Sobers' 59-year-old Test record

LONDON: India Test captain Shubman Gill etched his name into the history books on Thursday, Day 1 of the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval, by breaking a 59-year-old record held by West Indies legend Sir Gary Sobers.

Gill surpassed Sobers' long-standing record of most runs scored by an overseas captain in a Test series played in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia). 

The West Indies legend had amassed 722 runs in the 1966 England-West Indies series. Gill needed just one run to overtake the tally and achieved the feat by scoring two runs on the sixth ball of his innings.

The 25-year-old has now scored 724 runs in the ongoing five-match Test series in England, placing him third on the all-time run-scorers list in a bilateral series between India and England. 

Gill is also within touching distance of two major Indian records. If he scores at least 11 more runs in the first innings at The Oval, he will surpass Sunil Gavaskar’s 732 runs — the most by an Indian captain in a Test series, achieved during the 1978-79 series against the West Indies. 

Furthermore, if he goes on to score at least 53 more runs in the ongoing match, he will break Gavaskar’s all-time Indian record of 774 runs in a single Test series, set during the 1971 tour of the West Indies.

The Indian skipper has already surpassed Virat Kohli’s previous best of 655 runs in a single Test series, achieved against England in 2016.

Additionally, Gill is eyeing the record for the most runs in a Test series between India and England. To surpass Gooch's 752-run mark set in 1990 — the highest in India-England Test encounters — Gill needs to score at least 31 more runs.