Young Indian opener Shubman Gill had a day to remember on day three of the ongoing first Test match against Bangladesh, as he hit his maiden century in international red-ball cricket in India’s second innings.
Having bowled out Bangladesh in their first innings for 150, thanks to 5/40 from Kuldeep Yadav and 3/20 from Mohammed Siraj, India captain KL Rahul opted against enforcing following on despite the 254- run lead and batted again.
He himself could only manage 23 runs, but Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara scored runs at a decently fast pace and added 113 runs for the second wicket. Gill completed his maiden Test century and fell for 110 runs with 10 fours and 3 sixes to his name, before getting out to Mehidy Hasan.
Cheteshwar Pujara continued to score his 19th Test ton, his first since 2019, and finished on 102* as India declared 258/2 setting Bangladesh 513 to chase down.
Talking about his knock with broadcasters Sony Sports, Shubman Gill said: “I personally thought it (maiden Test century) took a long time to come for me. Today it was all about getting the difficult situation out of the way.
(The century) Means a lot to me, my family, and my friends who have supported me. A special moment for any player — getting the maiden century here means a lot to me.”
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Asked if he was nervous after reaching 90, he said: “There weren’t any different thoughts (while batting in the 90s). For me, it was about playing according to the field and then be able to score runs.”
Gill said adopting an attacking approach was instinctive. He said pacing the innings was key to success.
“It was very instinctive (to hit a couple of boundaries and get to the milestone). When the bowler came round the wicket, there was gap between third man and the point. I hadn’t played there during the whole innings. And once the field came in, I went over the fielders. When lunch happened, I was batting around 13. When I’d faced 100 balls, I was 70-odd, it’s about pacing the innings. You got to know when to attack as a batter,” he said.
At stumps on Day 3, Bangladesh was 42 for no loss, still needing 471 runs for a win.
(PTI inputs)
