CHENNAI: Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant slammed their respective half-centuries while sharing a 138-run partnership for the fourth wicket and take India’s lead to 432 runs, after reaching 205/3 in their second innings at lunch on day three of first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai.
The first session on day three turned out to be another brilliant session for India as Gill (86 not out) and Pant (82 not out) took a demoralised Bangladesh bowling line-up to cleaners by making 128 runs in 24 overs on a cloudy day at Chepauk.
Both Gill and Pant have looked untroubled, as they took their time and then unleashed their shots to pile more misery on Bangladesh – barring a dropped chance of the latter on 72 by Najmul Hossain Shanto off Shakib Al Hasan just before lunch.
In the morning, with lack of lateral movement on offer for Bangladesh, Pant played two controlled pulls for boundaries, before Gill danced down the pitch to thump Mehidy Hasan Miraz for back-to-back sixes and get his 12th Test fifty in style.
Pant and Gill were consciously looking to play for a long time, leading to a little drop in the scoring rate. But Pant broke a 46-ball boundary drought by dancing down the pitch off Mehidy Hasan to smack a four straight down the ground.
Pant continued to waltz down the pitch off Mehidy – this time dispatching him for a one-handed six before reaching a fifty in his comeback Test game. It was also after 638 days that Pant notched up a fifty in international cricket.
There was no respite for Bangladesh as Gill continued to dazzle with his down the ground and pull shots, while Pant was terrific in his loft, reverse-sweep, backfoot punch, and heave shots to dispatch bowlers all over the park.
After being dropped on 72 by Shanto off an off-colour Shakib, Pant brought out the sweep and down the ground shot over long-off to take a brace of fours and push the match out of Bangladesh’s reach at lunch.
Brief Scores: India 376 and 205/3 in 51 overs (Shubman Gill 86 not out, Rishabh Pant 82 not out; Nahid Rana 1-21) lead Bangladesh 149 by 432 runs