Legendary Sunil Gavaskar compared Shubman Gill’s captaincy at Edgbaston, Birmingham with three former Indian captains – Ajit Wadekar, Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid. The former trio are the only three Indian captains to win a Test series on English soil.

Wadekar led India to their maiden Test series win in 1971, Dev, the World Cup-winning skipper, led the team to series win in 1986. Dravid led India to a 1-0 series win in 2007.

Meanwhile, Gill aggregated 430 runs in the Edgbaston Test, returning with scores of 269 and 161 in both innings. Gavaskar noted that Gill looked calm, both as a batter and captain during India’s comprehensive 336-run win at Edgbaston. This was India’s maiden Test win at this venue.

“It might be pertinent to note that India have won a Test series in England only thrice. In 1971 under Ajit Wadekar, in 1986 under Kapil Dev and in 2007 under Rahul Dravid. All three were the coolest skippers one could ever hope for. The laconic style of Wadekar, the rip-roaring yet controlled style of Kapil and the intense and thoughtful method of Dravid,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-day.

“Not once did these three ever get excited, whatever the situation and that calm certainty was infectious. Shubman Gill in Birmingham looked like an amalgam of these three. Intense and iconic while scoring a double century and a century, rip roaring as well as thoughtful as his bowlers ran through the England batting in both the innings,” he added.

Gill has scored 607 runs in three Test matches at an impressive average of 101.17 in the first three Test matches of the series. The right-hander has done a fine job as a leader so far and he would look to carry the good show.

The fourth Test match between England and India will be played at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, from July 23 onwards.