Shubman Gill is set to lead India in a two-match Test series in Sri Lanka. At 26 years old, he heads into the tour having produced some of the most impressive
batting numbers ever recorded by an Indian captain.
India's results under Gill's captaincy have been a mixed bag, with 5 wins and 3 losses from 9 Tests. However, his personal run-scoring has been exceptional, and the Sri Lanka series presents him with at least three significant milestones within reach.
3. Fastest Indian captain to reach 1,500 Test runs as captain
Gill has amassed 1076 runs as captain in nine Tests at a staggering average of 82.76. This includes six centuries and one fifty. His best score in that period is 269. His exemplary conversion rate shows that captaincy has brought the best out of him as a batter.
During the two Tests against Sri Lanka, if Gill can score 424 runs, he will become the fastest Indian captain to get to 1500 runs in the longest format in terms of innings played. Sunil Gavaskar currently holds the record, having reached the milestone in 21 innings. Gill has only played 15 innings so far as the skipper in Tests.
2. Overtake Sachin Tendulkar's record for most Test centuries as Indian captain
Sachin Tendulkar finished his international career with seven Test centuries as captain of the Indian team. Gill currently has six centuries as Test captain and needs just two more in the Sri Lanka series to surpass that mark. Virat Kohli holds the record for scoring the most Test centuries as India captain (20).
Gill's century-scoring rate as captain has been remarkable. During the 2025 England series, he became the first batter in Test history to score four hundreds in a debut Test series as captain. Five other captains, including Don Bradman and Virat Kohli, had managed three each. Scoring two more centuries in Sri Lanka would take his captain tally to eight, moving him past Tendulkar's record of seven.
1. Break Sachin Tendulkar's record for highest score by an Indian captain in Tests in Sri Lanka
Gill scored 269 against England at Edgbaston in the 2nd Test of the 2025 series, a knock recognised as the highest score by an Indian captain in Test history and the highest by any Indian batter in a Test in England. In the same match, he also scored 161 in the second innings, becoming the first Indian captain to record a double-hundred and a hundred in a single Test.
The record for the highest score by an Indian captain in Tests in Sri Lanka is currently held by Sachin Tendulkar. In August 1997, he amassed 143 in the first Test in Colombo. If Gill can produce a big innings in either of the two Tests on this tour, he will have a genuine opportunity to set a new landmark in that category as well.
The two-match Test series in Sri Lanka will give Gill the chance to add to what is already a historic run of form with the bat in the longest format.
