Shubman Gill’s 269 at Edgbaston slots into India’s top 250+ Test innings—Here are the five best ever.
When Shubman Gill reached 242 at Edgbaston, he overtook Sachin Tendulkar’s 241* against Australia in Sydney. It’s now the most runs in an inning by an India batter in SENA countries.
The current captain of the Blue Brigade left the field with 269 runs besides his name. That put him at three on the list of most runs in an inning by an Asian batter in SENA countries. Pakistan’s two former batters, Zaheer Abbas (274) and Javed Miandad (271), are ahead of him.
When Gill left Mumbai for the five-match series as the new and young captain, he promised to be the best batter of the series. His dodgy average of 35.05 then didn’t inspire much confidence in his words. But his two knocks of 147 and 269 in three weeks at Leeds and Edgbaston have flown up through the ranks.
Shubman Gill’s 269 ranks among India’s top overseas 250+ scores
It’s hard to rank different scores in various eras of dissimilar situations. But Gill’s knock will be among the top five 250+ knocks by an India batter in the history of the game. When the right-handed batter walked into the middle, the tourists were at a fishy position of 95/2.
One wicket in that position could have opened the gate for the England bowlers. The need of the hour was to spend time in the middle on a flat surface to tire the bowlers. Gill accepted the hard work. For the entire second session of the opening day, he hardly looked to play any risky shots.
When India found themselves struggling at 211/5 and the clouds of a lower-order collapse hovered over their head, the Punjab-born displayed immense patience. With Ravindra Jadeja, he notched up a fine 203-run stand for the sixth wicket to cross the 400-run mark for the visitors.
Even when Gill crossed his maiden Test double century, he had the hunger to stretch his knock.
Even though there was no movement off the surface for the bowlers, the 269-run knock from the 25-year-old felt like an inside battle for the batter. It was about bringing development from the previous 147-run knock at Leeds. It was about justifying his words of ‘showing improvement.’
Gill realised the right tempo of the knock. He was technically sound and also stylish in the error-free knock until he made a mistake. Mentally and physically tired of his 529 minutes at the crease full of concentration and discipline, he fell into the leg-side trap. However, his innings was the centerpiece of India’s 587 on the board.
Read More: Shubman Gill’s Test average goes 40+ after his epic 269 at Edgbaston
Shubman Gill’s 269 challenges Virender Sehwag’s 319 among the best 250+ knocks of India batters
The first two days of the second Edgbaston Test belonged only to young Shubman Gill for his batting. Although, he picked a fine catch at the second slip to send back Ben Duckett late in the evening. But his contribution will be measured highly only if they gain victory in the fixture and level the series at 1-1.
Apart from this knock, India have eight other 250+ knocks in the longest format. Four of those belong to the former opening batter, Virender Sehwag. Karun Nair (303*), VVS Laxman (281), Rahul Dravid (270), and Virat Kohli (254) touched the feat once in their career.
Laxman’s 281 perhaps will remain at the top given the situation they were in the contest. In reply to Australia’s 445 at the Eden Gardens, the home side was folded up for 171 and faced the follow-on. They lost three wickets in 115 runs in the second innings, including Sachin Tendulkar. Even at 232/4 when Sourav Ganguly walked back, they were far away in the game.
That’s when Laxman and Dravid kept batting and frazzled the Steve Waugh-led side. One hardly believed that the Blue Brigade would gain a 171-run victory after being followed on. That knock also came against a bowling line-up consisting of Glenn McGrath, the late Shane Warne, and Jason Gillespie.
Sehwag’s 319 will perhaps come in the second position. It still knocks the socks off to think how the opener thumped those runs in just 304 balls at a strike rate of over 100 in 2008. Meanwhile, it was against a bowling line-up of Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Morne Morkel, and Jacques Kallis. However, the game ended in a draw.
If India go on to win this Edgbaston Test, then Gill’s 269 can come in the second position. The two other great 250+ knocks were Sehwag’s 309 against Pakistan in Multan and Dravid’s 270 in Rawalpindi. Both came in the same series in 2004. The opener recorded those runs at a strike rate of over 80 against a bowling department of Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Mohammad Sami.
On the other hand, it was the same routine for ‘The Wall.’ He took 495 balls in the 270-run knock, thanks to 34 boundaries and one six. India went on to gain an innings victory on both occasions.
The value of any knock by a batter is parallel to a team’s performance. Once the side does well, the knock starts to get recognition steadily. That could easily be the case with Gill’s 269.
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