Even though Shubman Gill was struggling with his form going into the second innings of the first Test match against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, he was batting with the wicket-keeper batter, Rishabh Pant, who was making a return in the longest format after nearly 634 days. In the first innings, the latter had a good start but couldn’t carry it away.
One of the aspects of Pant’s batting in the longest format of the game is his open mindset, and being crystal clear and firm with his decisions and whatever he wanted to do against certain bowlers. He looked to attack on most occasions in the second innings, especially to the spinners.
Shubman Gill had two jobs standing at the other end of the crease. He not only needed to calm the aggression of Pant in check but was also required to focus totally on his batting after being dismissed on a duck in the first innings of the Chennai Test.
Shubman Gill reveals the plan for India before the declaration in the second innings
The start for the home side was again poor in the second innings, as they lost their captain Rohit Sharma with a ball that bounced awkwardly off the surface, while his opening partner, Yashasvi Jaiswal, looking to drive the wide delivery, got an outside edge on the blade.
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Virat Kohli was later adjusted leg before the stumps when Pant joined the Punjab-born in the middle. They safely negotiated the last period of the second day’s play, even though the wicket-keeper batter showed his positivity with a few big shots.
But the third day was different. They defended the first three to four overs before looking to take on the bowlers and gain more runs to increase the lead of the Indian team. With a little bit of rain predicted for the last two days of the Test, they decided to declare with a 515-run lead, keeping nearly 230 overs in their hand to pick ten Bangladeshi wickets.
“We spoke about trying to spend a little bit more time today of the extra moisture in the wicket. But once we played 3-4 overs, then we were trying to dominate because it was not really about runs for us at that point. It was more about how we wanted to give a certain amount of time for our bowlers to bowl.” Shubman Gill expressed at the end of the third day’s play in the first game.
He remained unbeaten on 119 runs in the second innings with help of ten boundaries and four sixes with a strike rate of nearly 70, while Pant smashed his sixth Test century, equaling with MS Dhoni, as he scored 109 runs in 128 balls with a strike rate of over 85.
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“I have spent a lot of time with him on and off the field. Watching him score his first 50 and his first 100 after his comeback gives me so much pleasure because I have seen him work so hard for it when he was coming back from the injury. I think he also must be feeling really good.” Shubman Gill revealed during the presentation.
The vice-captain of the Indian side also touched on the brilliance of Pant, while interacting with the host broadcasters, at the start of the fourth day’s play in Chennai.
“It’s very different from the way that I play, so watching someone like him play those shots, I feel like I have the best seat in the house. Just having those conversations with him in the middle, I could tell that he’s now sensing to do something different.” Shubman Gill highlighted.