Most runs in a test series by Captain, Shubman Gill, Don Bradman, Sunil Gavaskar
Captaining a country in test cricket is never an easy job. It is hard to stay focused for five consecutive days and carry it on for the entire series. There have been some incredible performances by a captain in tests. But carrying the form throughout the series and performing match after match is a difficult job.
There have been some instances where a captain ends up becoming the best batter of his team for the entire series. This article is also dedicated to some such record-breaking performances where a captain has scored big runs. Shubman Gill also started well as test captain for India. Below we will shed light on the top five such instances where a captain had a record-breaking series with the bat.
Most Runs by a Captain in a Test Series
5. David Gower (ENG) – 732 runs
David Gower was England’s run machine in the 1980s who scored a four on the very first ball he faced in test cricket. He was also given the captaincy of India and did a pretty brilliant job as a batting captain. His best momentum as a batting captain came during the 1985 Ashes series and helped England win the series 3-1. Gower batted in nine innings and scored a total of 732 runs at an average of 81.33. He scored three hundreds with one century and a highest score of 215 in that series.
4. Sunil Gavaskar (IND) – 732 runs
Sunil Gavaskar was the best Indian Test batter of his era, and he retired with the most runs and centuries in Test cricket. He made his mark in their debut series as a batter but made an impact as a captain as well. During the 1978-79 home series against England, he was unstoppable and went on to break many records. He finished with 732 runs in nine innings at 91.50 with a high score of 205. Gavaskar crossed the 100-run mark four times with a fifty.
3. Graham Gooch (ENG) – 752 runs
Graham Gooch is still featured as one of the best English batters ever to play test cricket. Not to forget, he holds the record for the most runs (456) by a batter in a single test. In the same series, he created the English record for most runs as a captain in a single test series. It was a three-match test series, and Gooch scored 752 runs in six innings at a mind-blowing batting average of 125.33 with his career-best score of 333. Gooch also scored three centuries and two half-centuries during that series.
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2. Shubman Gill (IND) – 754 runs
Shubman Gill got the test captaincy of India after the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. He became the captain after a lot of criticism of him and his place in the tests. But he turned out to be India’s best batter in his debut test series as captain. It was the English tour in 2025, and Gill finished with 754 runs at an excellent average of 83.77. He finished with four centuries and a best of 269, which is also his highest test score.
1. Don Bradman (AUS) – 810 runs
Surpassing Don Bradman in any test batting record is itself a big thing. Here he is on top of another batting record. Bradman was the run-scoring machine and had the most celebrated test career ever in history. His debut series as captain was the Ashes 1936/37, and Australia won the series 3-2 under him. As a batter, he made the record for scoring the most runs in a test series as a captain. Bradman finished with 810 runs in nine innings with a best of 270 runs. He scored three centuries and one half-century in that series.