5 legendary Indian batters who had fewer Test hundreds than Shubman Gill’s 10 ft. Gautam Gambhir

Team India captain Shubman Gill led by example by scoring a century on Day 2 of the ongoing second Test of the two-match series against the West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday, October 11. The right-handed batter scored an unbeaten 129 runs off 196 balls with the help of two sixes and 16 boundaries, helping the hosts declare at 518/5 in their first innings. It was his 10th century in Tests, first against WI and fifth at home.

With his century, Gill also continued his purple patch with the bat. The 26-year-old recently amassed 754 runs in 10 innings with the help of a double century and three tons in the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. By carrying his overseas form to home Tests, Gill has taken the No. 4 spot like a duck to water.

With five Test centuries in a calendar year as captain, Shubman Gill also equalled former skipper Virat Kohli for the special record. In this article, we take a look at five famous former Indian batters who scored fewer Test hundreds than Gill. The list features current India head coach Gautam Gambhir, former India captain MS Dhoni, and Navjot Singh Sidhu.

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5 legendary Indian batters with fewer Test hundreds than Shubman Gill

#1 Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir looked like one of the promising batters when he first entered the team in 2004. The opening batter slammed his maiden Test ton against Bangladesh in only his fifth Test. Unfortunately, he had to wait for four years for his next ton, but bounced back in style, scoring three tons in the 2008 season with over 1,000 runs in the calendar year. The Delhi batter continued his solid form, scoring 727 runs with the help of four hundreds in 2009. However, his centuries dried up after his 116 against Bangladesh in 2010, and he didn’t manage a single century despite playing for India till 2016. Overall, he amassed 4,154 runs in 54 Tests at an average of 41.95, including nine centuries.

#2 MS Dhoni

Former India captain MS Dhoni is famously known for his unmatchable white-ball credentials, but has represented India in 90 Tests. The wicketkeeper-batter slammed his first-ever Test ton with an impressive 148 against Pakistan in 2006. The hard-hitting batter then scored a couple of centuries in 2009 and followed it up with single tons in the next two years. The Ranchi-born then slammed 224 against Australia during the 2013 series at home. The legendary player failed to score any more tons in his remaining 16 Tests. He announced his sudden retirement from tests during the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Overall, Dhoni finished his career with 4,876 runs in 90 Tests, comprising six hundreds. Notably, he mostly played with tail-enders in his career at No. 7, which affected his chances of scoring big.

#3 Kapil Dev

Former skipper Kapil Dev is one of the most successful all-rounders for India in Tests. The right-handed batter represented the team from 1979 to 1993, amassing 5,248 runs in 131 matches with the help of eight centuries. The legendary player announced his arrival with his first century against the prime West Indies in 1979 away from home. It’s worth mentioning that he also scored away centuries in England and South Africa. Like Dhoni, the middle-order batter didn’t get enough opportunities with the bat as he mostly played at the 7th and 8th spots, scoring 2,861 and 1,777 runs, including five and two tons, respectively.

#4 Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan emerged as one of India’s swashbuckling batters in the white-ball formats. The southpaw was equally brilliant with the bat in the red-ball format. The Delhi batter announced his arrival in style by scoring 187 against Australia on his Test debut. He converted his tons into daddy hundreds whenever he found himself going, including 173 and 190 against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The opening batter, however, wasn’t a regular in the Test side owing to inconsistency with the bat. He smashed his last century against Afghanistan in a one-off Test in 2018. Overall, Dhawan managed just 34 Tests, scoring 2,315 runs at an average of 40.61 with the help of seven tons.

#5 Navjot Singh Sidhu

A popular name in the commentary box, Navjot Singh Sidhu has represented India in Tests from 1983 to 1999. Like Gautam Gambhir, Sidhu has smashed nine centuries in the red-ball format. The right-handed batter took five years to score his first Test ton, scoring 116 against New Zealand. The Punjab batter slammed his first overseas ton against the West Indies in 1989. After a lean patch with the bat in 1990 and 1992, he bounced back in style with two tons apiece in 1993 and 1994. The opening batter had a breakthrough year in 1997, where he amassed 720 runs, including three centuries. Overall, he finished with 3,202 runs in 51 Tests at an average of 42.13 with the best score of 201 in the West Indies in 1997.

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Edited by James Kuanal