Heading into the series against England, Gill was under immense scrutiny for his below par performances in overseas Tests.
Shubman Gill had a phenomenal Test series against England, leading a young Indian side in transition to a 2-2 draw and earning the Player of the Series award.
Heading into the series, Gill was under immense scrutiny for his below par performances in overseas Tests. He had not even touched the 40-run mark outside Asia since his dazzling 91 at Brisbane against Australia in 2021.
However, in England, he silenced his critics with a superlative show, finishing the series with 754 runs, the second-highest by an Indian captain in a single Test series.
The stylish right-hander also achieved several milestones, including scoring a double century as captain in England, becoming the first Asian captain to score a double century in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries, and surpassing Virat Kohli's highest score by an Indian captain.
Here is a breakdown of Gill's phenomenal show in the five-match series:
A statement century at Leeds
The 147 he scored in the opening Test at Leeds was Gill's first century outside Asia. It was a reminder to his critics and perhaps a reassurance to himself that he belonged to the highest level. After legends like Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Virat, he was the fourth Indian to score a century in the first innings on captaincy debut.
He also crossed the 2,000-run mark in Tests, emulating Virat, who achieved the feat when he hit the first of his twin Adelaide centuries against Australia in 2014.
Although he failed in the second innings, scoring just 8 runs, Gill came back strongly in the second Test.
A batting masterclass at Edgbaston
Gill's insatiable hunger for big runs was on display in the second Test at Edgbaston. He led India to a historic win with breathtaking knocks of 269 and 161 across both innings and recorded the second-highest match aggregate in a Test.
Having scored a ton at Dharamshala against England last year, Gill joined the elite list of Dilip Vengsarkar, Rahul Dravid, and Mohammad Azharuddin to score centuries against the Three Lions in three successive Tests.
His first innings score of 269 off 387 balls contained 30 fours and three sixes.
In the process, he became only the sixth Indian with a 250-plus score in Tests, joining Virender Sehwag, Virat, VVS Laxman, Dravid and Karun Nair but the difference was that he became the first one to achieve this feat outside the Indian subcontinent, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's classy 241 not out against Australia in Sydney way back in 2004.
Gill also became the first-ever captain to score a double ton against England in England, bettering Mohammad Azharuddin's 179 at Old Trafford in 1990.
He also went past Gavaskar's 221 at The Oval in 1979 to register India's best individual score in England.
Gill joined the elite company of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rohit Sharma to become the fourth Indian with a double century in Tests and ODIs both.
He also surpassed Kohli's 254 not out against South Africa in 2019 to achieve the highest score by an Indian captain.
The 25-year-old Punjabi lad, the fifth youngest captain in Indian Test history, also became the first Asian captain with a double century in SENA, with the previous best score being 193 by Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan at Lord's in 2011.
Later, with his second innings knock of 161 off 162 balls that was laced with 13 fours and eight sixes, Gill produced the second-highest aggregate in a single Test (430 runs), below England's Graham Gooch (456 runs; 333 & 123 against India at Lord's in 1990).
He also became the second batter to register 150-plus scores in both innings of a Test after Allan Border (150 not out & 153) against Pakistan in Lahore in 1980. Gill's outing is also the first instance of a 250-plus and 150-plus score in a single Test.
Gill also pushed Virat (243 and 50 against Sri Lanka in Delhi, 2017) behind to have the highest aggregate in a match by an Indian captain. He also joined his idol as the second player to record three hundreds in his first two Tests as captain.
A poor show at Lord's
Although Gill failed to deliver at the iconic venue, he nonetheless overtook Dravid (602 runs in England back in 2002) to have the most number of runs by an Indian in an away series against England.
Another century in Manchester
Gill suffered a brief slump in form following a third successive failure in the first innings of the fourth Test in Manchester. However, in a bid to overcome the 311-run first innings deficit, Gill stitched a brilliant 188-run stand for the third wicket with K L Rahul after India were reduced to 0-2.
With a 238-ball 103 consisting of 12 fours, Gill brought up his fourth century of the series. This innings once again highlighted Gill's immense mental fortitude and ability to dominate when the odds were stacked against him.
With a scintillating batting display, he became the third captain with four centuries in a series, alongside Gavaskar and the legendary Don Bradman.
He achieved another milestone, joining Gavaskar and Virat for the most number of centuries by an Indian during a Test series, apart from being the first player to hit four Test hundreds on captaincy debut.
It was also India's first century in Manchester after Sachin's maiden Test ton in 1990.
Aggregating 722 runs at this point, he broke Virat's record of 692 runs to be the most successful Indian Test batter during a Test series in a SENA nation. Virat's feat of 692 runs in four Tests came in 2014 against Australia.
Disappointment at The Oval
While a suicidal run-out while on 21 cut short his stay at the crease in the first innings of the final Test, Gill nonetheless overtook Gavaskar's total of 732 runs (against West Indies back in 1978-79) to be the Indian captain with most runs during a Test series.
Although he could score only 11 in the second innings, Gill ended the series with a massive 754 runs at an average of 75.40, the second-most by an Indian in a single series after Gavaskar (774 runs against West Indies in 1971).
Also, after Don Bradman's 810 runs against England in 1936/37, this was the second-highest runs by a captain in a Test series.
The Indian skipper also crossed the 6,000-run mark in international cricket during the course of the series.