Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma vs Shubman Gill: Comparison after first Test series as captain

Shubman Gill begins Test captaincy stint on high

With both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bidding farewell to Test cricket in May 2025, the BCCI handed the responsibility to young Shubman Gill to take over the leadership in the longest format with the five-Test series against England as his debut.

India, without Kohli, Rohit, and several other senior players, Gill not only led a team in transition but did it brilliantly. He went on to earn the Player of the Series, scoring 754 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.40, with four centuries, including a double hundred at Edgbaston. The double century was followed by another ton in the same match, tallying to 430 runs, the seventh-highest match aggregate in Test history. Gill's 269 also became his new personal best, breaking his previous record just weeks apart.

Gill registers his name in record books

By doing so, he became the first Asian batter to score over 700 runs in a SENA series and the first Indian captain to score four hundreds in a Test series. Notably, he was the second-highest run-scorer in a Test series as captain, behind Don Bradman’s 810, and the highest run-getter in any India-England Test series, surpassing Graham Gooch’s 752. England head coach Brendon McCullum picked him as the best player of the series. Gill's match-saving hundred in Manchester and his leadership at The Oval showed that the next generation is in safe hands. While Gill had a memorable start, his predecessors, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, had contrasting beginnings.

Virat Kohli as full-time Test captain

Kohli first captained India in Adelaide in 2014 due to MS Dhoni’s injury. Though India lost the match narrowly, Kohli shone with twin centuries (115 and 141). While India went on to lose the series by a 2-0 margin, Kohli had a memorable series with the bat, finishing as the second-highest run getter of the series with 692 runs in eight innings, with four centuries and one fifty to his name. While in that series, the Delhi-born led the team in just one match, his first full series as Test skipper came in the 2015 tour of Sri Lanka. India went on to win the series by a 1-2 margin, with Kohli scoring 233 runs in six innings, which included one hundred and a fifty. 

Rohit Sharma as full-time Test captain

Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, took over in 2022 following Kohli’s resignation. His first assignment was a home series against Sri Lanka. In his debut innings, he managed to add just 29 but led India to a commanding win. The hosts eventually won the series with a 2-0 margin, and Rohit ended the series with 90 runs to his name in three innings. 

Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma vs Shubman Gill comparison after first Test as full-time captain

While Kohli had a long and successful captaincy tenure, and Rohit had his way towards captaincy, Gill just began his stint and has already registered his name in the record books. With all three having different journeys and approaches, the goal has been similar, which is to take the Indian team and the flag forward.  

Kohli, Rohit, Gill Captaincy records