Kathmandu. Indian captain Shubman Gill scored 269 runs in the first innings of the second Test against England in Birmingham. His double century helped India post 587 runs.

It is the highest individual score by any Indian captain in Test cricket, surpassing Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 254 against South Africa in Pune in 2019.

Gill’s 269 is also the highest score by an Indian batsman in a Test outside Asia. The previous record was held by Sachin Tendulkar, who scored an unbeaten 241 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2004.

This is the third highest score by an Indian batsman in a Test match played abroad. Earlier, Virender Sehwag scored 309 runs in Multan and Rahul Dravid scored 270 runs in Rawalpindi during the 2004 tour of Pakistan.

Before Gill, only two Indians had scored double centuries in Test cricket in England. Sunil Gavaskar scored 221 runs in 1979 and Rahul Dravid scored 217 runs in 2002. Both batsmen scored centuries at The Oval.

Overall, Gill’s 269 runs is the seventh highest individual score for India in Test cricket.

Before Gill, there were only two foreign batsmen to score a double century in a Test at Birmingham. Gram Smith scored 277 in 2003 and Zaheer Abbas scored 274 in 1971. Gill’s 269 is the eighth highest score by a foreign batsman in England.

The number of batsmen (including Gill) to score a century in their first two Tests as captain is seven. Three of the previous six were Indians. Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli also scored centuries in their two Tests.

Five batsmen have scored double centuries in both Tests and ODIs. Along with Gill, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle have also scored double centuries in both formats.