Shubman Gill joins elite Indian list with 3,000 Test run milestone

India captain Shubman Gill became the fourth-youngest Indian to score 3,000 Test runs during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. The milestone came as India reached 88/2 at lunch, with Gill joining an elite list featuring Tendulkar, Sehwag and Vengsarkar

Colombo:  India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill on Sunday completed his 3000 runs in Test cricket during the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club here. Gill has become the fourth-youngest Indian player to reach the milestone as he continues his rise in the format.

Coming into the second Test, Gill needed only seven runs to reach the milestone after falling short of it in the series opener in Galle. The skipper completed his 3000 runs when he hit a boundary off an outside edge in the 23rd over of the first session off Keshara Nuwantha. At 26y and 349d, Gill has become the fourth youngest Indian ever to reach the milestone. The list is led by legendary former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (23y 228d), while Virender Sehwag (26y 157d) and Dilip Vengsarkar (26y 263d) follow him on second and third, respectively.

---

Gill went past legend and former skipper Kapil Dev on this list. Kapil was 26 years and 356 days old when he completed his 3000 runs in the longest international format.

Gill batted with caution to open his account on the 13th ball he faced, when he whipped left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya to open his account. He didn’t take long to hit another four, completing his milestone. The Indian skipper came out to bat when the visitors lost Yashasvi Jaiswal for 45 to Asitha Fernando, who cleaned the opener and had a heated exchange with him. KL Rahul was dismissed earlier in the first hour when Lahiru Kumara nicked him behind on an attempted cut. The visitors went to lunch at 88/2 after 25 overs.

Earlier, India had won the toss and opted to bat as off-spin all-rounder Saransh Jain made his debut in place of Kuldeep Yadav, who missed out due to a viral illness. “Batting first, yes. (On the pitch) It looks like a much harder, much better surface compared to Galle. Galle was also a very good wicket, but I think as the game went on, it got a little bit slower and the ball started to turn. We’re expecting the same, but I think for the first two or three days, I think it’ll be a really good wicket to bat on. (Playing XI) Kuldeep, unfortunately, had some infections, so he misses out, and Saransh makes his debut for India,” Gill said at the toss.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka also made changes as Kamil Mishara made his debut and Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who made his debut as a concussion substitute, got his first full game. “(On bowling first] Yes, of course, as Shubman said, it’s quite harder than Galle. I thought, yeah, it’s good for batting, and I don’t mind bowling because, with cloud cover, maybe we can strike early and put them under pressure. (Team changes) Yes, Kamil Mishara is debuting today, and yes, Pasindu is also playing today,” Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya de Silva said.