Shubman Gill slammed his fifth Test century for India having recovered from an eight-ball duck in the first innings of the opening Test against Bangladesh in Chennai as the hosts took ascendancy on Day 3 on Saturday, September 21. Gill, who didn't have a great outing in the Duleep Trophy, has been a bit under pressure in the last couple of months since being touted as the next Indian captain, however, in the second innings, he put his head down and completed a magnificent knock.
Gill played to the merit of the ball while covering the line on several occasions, a limitation which has hurt him in the recent past but since it wasn't doing much, India's No 3 batter could take his time, play himself in and score boundaries whenever the opportunity arose. Gill became the 8th youngest Indian batter to have five Test centuries in his name as he (25 years, 13 days) broke Virat Kohli's record (25 years, 43 days).
Gill also went past Kohli in the list for most World Test Championship centuries for India. Gill now has five centuries to his name in WTC history, one more than Kohli. Rishabh Pant, who also smashed a century a few minutes before Gill, equalled Kohli and Mayank to slam his fourth WTC hundred.
Youngest to 5th Test century for India
19 years, 282 days - Sachin Tendulkar
22 years, 218 days - Ravi Shastri
23 years, 242 days - Dilip Vengsarkar
24 years, 3 days - Mohammad Azharuddin
24 years, 73 days - Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
24 years, 270 days - Rishabh Pant
24 years, 331 days - Sunil Gavaskar
25 years, 13 days - Shubman Gill*
25 years, 43 days - Virat Kohli
Most centuries for India in World Test Championship
9 - Rohit Sharma (56 innings)
5 - Shubman Gill (48 innings)*
4 - Mayank Agarwal (33 innings)
4 - Rishabh Pant (43 innings)
4 - Virat Kohli (62 innings)
Gill with this century also became only the second Indian No 3 batter after Rahul Dravid to have a Test hundred in his name at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Gill and Pant stitched a humongous 167-run stand for the fourth wicket to pile on Bangladesh's misery. The declaration came after the lead went past 500 for India. India declared at 287/4 with 47 overs remaining in the day. Bangladesh need 515 runs to win the match.
