Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant shone with the bat in the second innings to put India in the driving seat in the ongoing first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Though India took a big lead in the first innings, they were in a tough situation after losing three early wickets. Rohit Sharma (5), Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) and Virat Kohli (17) could not get going with the bat. India were reeling at 67 for 3 when Rishabh Pant joined Shubman Gill in the middle.
From there, it was all back and forth as the young batsmen put India in a commanding position by scoring brilliant hundreds. They shared a stand of 167 runs for the fourth wicket. The partnership came to an end with Pant’s dismissal on the third day.
The wicket-keeper batsman departed after scoring 109 runs off 128 balls with the help of 13 fours and 4 sixes. On the other hand, Shubman Gill remained unbeaten on 119 runs as India declared their innings at 287/4.
Shubman Gill on batting with Rishabh Pant:
The camaraderie between Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant was in full swing as they batted together. Both players enjoyed each other’s company during the partnership. At the end of the third day of play, Gill also shared a funny anecdote.
During the partnership, Pant was seen hitting his bat against Gill’s several times. And while it is not unusual for players to hit the bat, Gill was left worried as he thought Pant would break his bat. Gill revealed that he was playing with an old bat which he has been using since the series against England earlier this year and was very worried.
“I told him not to do it because he was playing with a bat that I played with in the series against England. My bat is quite old, actually,” Gill said at the press conference.
“He was swinging my bat so hard that I told him I was trying to save him. And if I didn’t get it right, while we were in the middle, he would say ‘No, let’s do it again.’ I had to tell him to calm down,” he added.
Meanwhile, India has set Bangladesh a massive target of 515 runs. In reply, Bangladesh was left at 158/4 at the end of the third day. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (51) and Shakib Al-Hasan (5) will resume batting action on the fourth day.