Shubman Gillthe face of the Indian cricket team and the person who was chosen as the captain of both the Test and ODI teams, justified the decision of the BCCI. Since assuming the captaincy, Gill has transformed himself from an excellent opener to one of India’s most reliable batsmen in the longer formats.In less than a month, Shubman Gill has already scored three centuries in different formats.He hit his first century against Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 on May 29, hitting at a rate of 196.23. A week later, in one Test against Afghanistan on June 6, Gill registered another hundred, a patient knock that marked his 11th Test century. Then, just 10 days later in the second ODI on June 17, he brought up his first hundred since becoming the permanent ODI captain. Gill smashed 22 fours and two sixes, and although he didn’t turn two, he set India to 402 and sealed the series win.All three centuries came as a captain, raising an interesting question: Was Gill already on this path before he became a captain, or has captaincy opened up another phase in his game?With Afghanistan currently touring India for Tests and ODIs, Gill has already scored 364 runs in just three innings at home at a staggering 182.Eighteen months ago, he was a batsman of around 35 in Tests, often labeled by critics as underachieving. India then gave him the Test and ODI captaincy, and he started writing record books again.Gill’s first career as a pilot came on the tour of England, where he entered the history books like no Indian captain before. Before England’s 2025 tour, Gill was something of a mystery. After 32 Tests, he scored just 35.05 – ordinary numbers for a player of his immense talent. In fact, the only player in Test history who was less than that after 32 Tests, Chris Gayle, finished with a career average of over 40.
Then came the bandage.
In 2025, his first year as captain, Gill made 983 runs in nine Tests at an average of 70.21, almost double his previous score and the steepest jump of any Indian captain today.
Shubman Gill Found His Idol Virat Kohli
Shubman Gill has never hidden his admiration for Virat Kohli, and the cricketing world knows how Kohli has been established as India’s Test captain. In his first senior role as a Test captain after that MS Dhoni dropped in 2014, Kohli scored 692 runs in the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.Gill, however, went one better. He scored 754 runs at an average of 75.40 in five Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, won the Player of the Series award, surpassing Kohli’s tally. In doing so, he became the first Asian batsman to score more than 700 runs in a Test series in a SENA country (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia).The main focus of the campaign came at Edgbaston. Gill scored 269 in the first innings – the highest Test score by an Indian captain and the highest by any Indian in Tests outside Asia – before adding 161 in the second innings. His total of 430 matches is still the second most by a Test batsman, behind only Graham Gooch’s 456.India won the match by 336 runs, and Gill became the first Asian captain to register a Test victory at Edgbaston.Gill’s first Test captaincy ended 2-2, but he bounced back and led India to a comfortable sweep of the West Indies at home later that year. He ended the series with an unbeaten 129 in Delhi, another innings that showed his growing dominance as a skipper.
IPL Upper Hand Since Captaincy
Shubman Gill’s best IPL season came in 2023 when he was not the captain, he scored 890 runs. However, he was given the captaincy of Gujarat Titans in 2024, his first managerial stint in franchise cricket.The first season was difficult, as he only managed 426 runs in 12 innings. But by the following year, he seemed to have accepted the position. Gill scored 650 runs while leading Gujarat Titans to the playoffs. He followed this up with another impressive campaign in IPL 2026, scoring 732 runs in 16 innings and guiding his side to the playoffs.A rookie captain at first, Gill gradually became more assertive, with clarity in his goals and an increase in his performances.
India tour of Australia
Shubman Gill’s first series as India’s permanent ODI captain did not go according to plan. Through three innings, he managed just 43 runs as India lost the series 2-1.Guests avoided sweeping cleanly because of it Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who delivered in the third and final ODI. Unlike England, Gill struggled to adapt to Australian conditions and was unable to make much of an impact.
South African tour of India
Shubman Gill endured a difficult and injury-riddled tour of South Africa in India in November and December 2025. His campaign was interrupted by a neck injury sustained during the first Test in Kolkata, where he retired injured on the 4th and was subsequently dropped from the remaining Test squads.He missed the second test in Guwahati completely.After recovering, Gill returned to the ODI series and produced mixed returns, scoring 28, 11 and 50 in three matches as he helped India to a 2–1 victory.However, the T20I leg turned out to be one of the toughest phases of his career. Gill managed figures of 0, 0, 8 and 4 in four appearances, including back-to-back golden ducks in the opening two games. He was rested for the fifth and final T20I as India wrapped up the series 3-1.
Even after two tough series, Gill’s average and total figures remain ahead of the last three Indian captains – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.Does leadership improve batting, or does Gill just mature the moment he becomes captain?The pattern is mixed. Kohli’s Test average rose from an average of 39.5 before becoming captain to 54.8 as captain. Dhoni’s numbers also went up a bit. Gill’s rise has been steep. However, Rohit Sharma is a cautionary example, with his decline from 46.87 to 30.58 after taking over.
Captaincy, based on evidence, is often associated with better returns, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. The final verdict on Gill’s captaincy is still years away.Gill’s captaincy figures have been impressive, but they come from a limited sample of nine Tests and a handful of ODIs. The 0-2 loss to South Africa also needs a story, as he retired in the first game and missed the second, which he was the captain of. Rishabh Pant.His return to the West Indies was enhanced by an unbeaten 129 in Delhi, while the pre-captaincy averages of Kohli, Rohit and Dhoni are only estimates rather than real cutoffs. Likewise, Gill’s ODI captaincy record remains too short to match the long haul.However, taken as a whole, the evidence suggests that captaincy has brought Gill’s aggressive and determined nature to the fore. His performances and scoring runs have increased since he took over.Shubman Gill has scored 1,662 international runs as captain at an average of 69.25, compared to the 5,476 international runs he scored before getting the armband.
Tests
Before captaincy: 60 innings, 1,893 runs, average 33.21After captaincy: 15 innings, 1,076 runs, average 71.73
ODIs
Before captaincy: 55 innings, 2,775 runs, average 59.04After captaincy: 8 innings, 416 runs, average 59.43
