Shubman Gill Charts Record 50 Vs Afghanistan As India Mount Big Total

Shubman Gill celebrating his 50 [Source: AFP]

Shubman Gill slapped a fiery half-century against Afghanistan on Day 1 of India’s one-off home Test in New Chandigarh. Batting at number four, the Indian skipper raced to his fifty from just 68 balls, doing so in the 62nd over of the first innings.

The innings marked Gill’s ninth half-century, and his 19th score of fifty or more in Test cricket. Notably, the 26-year-old also racked up a slew of records through the course of his brisk fifty against the Afghanistan bowlers at the Mullanpur Stadium on Saturday, June 6.

Shubman Gill scales huge landmark with 50 vs AFG

Shubman Gill was named India’s Test captain last year following the sudden retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. As Indian skipper, the 26-year-old has now completed 1,000 Test runs for the team.

Gill reached the landmark figure in just his 15th inning as Indian captain to fall just behind national-record holder and all-time great Sunil Gavaskar. During his playing days, it took Gavaskar just 14 Test innings to complete 1,000 runs as India captain.

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Moreover, the current Indian skipper also became the 11th Indian captain to register 1,000 Test runs, joining an elite list featuring the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly among other greats of the game.

Furthermore, Shubman Gill scaled the milestone the quickest of them all, in terms of number of days since becoming Indian captain. It took Gill just 351 days to complete 1,000 Test runs as India captain.

BCCI

@BCCI

9th Test fifty ✅ 1⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣ runs as #TeamIndia's Test captain! ✅ Fastest (in terms of days) & second fastest (in terms of innings) to reach 1000 Test runs as an Indian captain. 🙌 Well played, Shubman Gill! 👏 👏 Updates ▶️

Jun 6, 2026, 3:45 PM

Gill translates IPL 2026 purple patch in Test cricket

Not long ago, the 26-year-old plundered 732 runs for the Gujarat Titans franchise in the IPL 2026 season. In 16 innings of the tournament, the prolific opener charted six fifties and one century, and aggregated his runs at an average of 45.75 and with a strike rate of 163.02.

Moreover, Gill also shouldered the responsibility of captaincy in the process, guiding the Titans into the final of the IPL 2026 season. On the big day, his team fell short against defending champions RCB at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.

India motor past 300 on Day 1

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, India lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal early in the day for just 24 off 32 balls to Mohammad Saleem. KL Rahul crafted a fighting 139-run partnership with Sai Sudharsan for the second wicket to lead India’s fightback.

While Sudharsan made 81 off 104 balls, Rahul shaped an elegant century from 165 deliveries. Captain Shubman Gill carried on the good work by scoring a brisk fifty of his own, and shared a thunderous partnership with belligerent stumper Rishabh Pant to motor the Indian total towards the 350-run mark.

By the time of publishing, India reached 334-3 in 77 overs.

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