Pant and Gill put India ahead with emotional hundreds

Chennai, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill washed away months of pain, anguish and disappointment of various kinds with emotional hundreds on the third day and put India in an excellent position to win the first Test against Bangladesh here on Saturday.

Gill and Pant and Shakib Al-Hasan guarded the wicket for the visitors and the day could have ended better for them had they been a little more judicious in their shot selection against star off-spinner R. Ashwin.

But let's forget the game situation and the bleak numbers for a moment and take a closer look at the story of the day.

Pant and Gill's hundreds were a testament to the willpower of these two great young men to rise above formidable personal obstacles that would have crushed the average citizen.

Pant's turmoil following the horrific car crash in December 2022 was widely documented, and the way he reacted after reaching his sixth Test hundred with a two-for against Shakib Al-Hasan underlined the value he placed on the knock.

Pant stood with his eyes closed, his head tilted upwards and his bat raised, roughly in the middle of the pitch, perhaps silently praying to the Lord to give him back his life and the game of cricket.

Gill watched the whole scene from a distance, not wanting to intrude on his partner's very private moment.

Soon the two brave hearts melted in a warm embrace as Chepauk erupted.

Perhaps this moment was also a tribute to Pant, who equalled Chennai's 'Thala' MS Dhoni's record for most Test hundreds by an Indian wicketkeeper-batsman (six).

Compared to Pant, Gill's problems were less pronounced as they were more mental than physical and were mainly due to his lack of confidence in the traditional format.

But since scoring a hundred against England in Visakhapatnam earlier this year, Gill seemed to have turned the corner and he continued his upward trend with his fifth Test hundred, a single against Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

But while Gill, who began overnight with 33, and Pant, who began with 12, were in the office, all those feelings were hidden because it was time to enjoy the sight of them beating the Bangladesh bowlers with their different methods.

The left-hander started rather quietly and tried to prepare his gaze before he started.

The decisive moment came when Pant caught off-spinner Miraz for a four during the first drinks break of the day.

From that point onwards, Pant's dismantling of Miraz was a feature of the innings as he scored his fifty off 88 balls.

After reaching fifty, the 26-year-old showed some of the typical pant throws.

Pant moved around the wicket like a trapeze artist and his six over fine leg, hit by Hasan Mahmud, thrilled a sizeable crowd here at the weekend.

He was dropped by Shanto on 72 off Shakib but that was no hindrance. He duly completed his 10th ball before offering a return catch to the hard-working Mehidy.

Minimalism is the epitome of Gill's hitting technique as he executes his shots without much frills.

The short-arm pull in front of the face or the zero-follow-through punch through the covers that he often executed against pacers Nahid Rana and Hasan may not quite be in the batting manual, but they were productive nonetheless.

Gill added another 53 runs from 51 balls for the fifth wicket with KL Rahul, taking India's lead to over 500.

However, Bangladesh, who had a long chase ahead of them, performed better than they did in the first innings. Shanto took the lead in the chase.

But his colleagues, especially the established players Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam, threw away their wickets with callous shots.

Shanto, however, remained calm and bowled Ashwin for three sixes, and the six below took him to fifty off 56 balls as the final over was played under floodlights due to poor lighting conditions.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications.