MS Dhoni vs Shubman Gill - comparing their stats in Test cricket before being named captain

Shubman Gill will lead India during their upcoming tour of England after being named the captain of the Test team. India will play five Tests against England in June this year.

The decision to make Shubman Gill the Test captain comes after the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the format just recently. It marks the beginning of a transition period in the Indian Test team with a new and young leader.

This series is also the start of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for India, making it a challenging one for Gill as he is set to embark on his journey as Test captain.

Before Rohit and Kohli, it was MS Dhoni who led the Test team. Dhoni captained in the longest format for the first time in 2008 against South Africa in Kanpur, before taking over as full-time captain in the same year.

MS Dhoni led the Test team from 2008 to 2014 in 60 matches with 27 wins, 18 defeats, and 15 draws with a win percentage of 45%. Overall, he went on to play 90 Tests for India in his international career.

With Shubman Gill now being named the new leader, let us compare the batting stats of MS Dhoni and Gill in Test cricket before being named captain.

---

MS Dhoni vs Shubman Gill comparison before being named Test captain

#1 Most runs

MS Dhoni made his Test debut in 2005 against Sri Lanka in Chennai. He led the Test team for the first time in 2008. Before becoming the captain, he played 28 Tests, where he scored 1,386 runs from 46 innings.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has played 32 Tests for India to date. He will play his 33rd Test for India as the captain of the side for the first time. In these 32 games so far, he has scored 1893 runs from 59 innings.

While Gill has more runs, he has played more games and batted in more innings. Moreover, Dhoni also batted mostly in the lower middle order in all these 28 Tests.

Player	Matches	Innings	Runs
MS Dhoni	28	46	1386
Shubman Gill	32	59	1893

---

#2 Average and strike rate

MS Dhoni had an average of 38.09 and a strike rate of 59.11 at the end of his Test career, having played 90 matches. Before he led the team for the first time, Dhoni had an average of 33.80 and a strike rate of 63.11 from 28 Tests.

On the other hand, Shubman Gill, having played 32 Tests till date before being announced Test captain, has made his runs at an average of 35.05 and a strike rate of 59.92.

Despite Dhoni batting in the lower middle order, his average is close to Gill's, who has batted mostly at the top. The former captain also has a better strike rate.

Player	Matches	Average	Strike-rate
MS Dhoni	28	33.80	63.11
Shubman Gill	32	35.05	59.92

---

#3 Most 50+ scores in winning efforts

MS Dhoni scored six hundreds and 33 half-centuries overall in his 90-match Test career. Out of these, four hundreds and 12 fifties came in winning efforts for Dhoni. In his 28 Tests before becoming captain, Dhoni had scored nine fifties and one hundred. Out of these, only three half-centuries came in wins.

Shubman Gill has scored five hundreds and seven fifties in his 32 Tests so far. Out of these, four hundreds and three fifties have come in winning efforts by the young batter.

Player	Matches	Total runs	Runs in a winning cause	50/100 in wins	Total 50+ scores in a winning cause
MS Dhoni	28	1386	350	3/0	3
Shubman Gill	32	1893	1111	3/4	7

---

#4 Home and away record

MS Dhoni played 42 Tests at home and 48 Tests away in his career overall. He made 2,380 runs at home and 2496 runs away.

Before he captained the Test team, Dhoni had played ten Tests at home and 18 Tests away, scoring 481 and 905 runs, respectively. He scored five fifties at home without a hundred while he made four fifties and a hundred away.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has played 17 Tests at home and 15 Tests away. He has made 1177 runs at home and 716 runs away. Gill has four hundreds and five fifties at home while he has one hundred and two fifties away.

Player	Matches	Home/Away matches	Home/Away runs	50/100 at home	50/100 away
MS Dhoni	28	10/18	481/905	5/0	4/1
Shubman Gill	32	17/15	1177/716	5/4	2/1