1st Test: Zakir and Shadman take Bangladesh to 56/0 at tea in 515 chase

Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) Chasing 515, Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam remained unbeaten on 32 and 21 respectively to take Bangladesh to 56/0 at tea on day three of the first Test against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday. The second session previously saw Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant slam their respective centuries as India declared at 278/4.

With the pitch being good for batting, Zakir got going by taking two boundaries off Jasprit Bumrah in the opening over. Shadman brought out a square punch on backfoot to hit a four off Mohammed Siraj before Zakir smacked him for a six and two fours – a pull over square leg was followed by a straight drive and cover drive.

After Shadman cut Akash Deep for a boundary, Zakir danced down the pitch to hit Ravichandran Ashwin for a boundary over long-on, before tea break was taken. Before this, Gill, after bagging a duck in the first innings, led India’s charge with a fine 119 not out, laced with ten fours and four sixes.

Pant, playing in his comeback Test match after 637 days, made a superb 109 – where he took his time before unleashing his attacking shots in his knock laced with 13 fours and four sixes. With his sixth Test century, Pant now has equalled MS Dhoni for the joint-most centuries hit by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter in the longer format.

The duo shared an enterprising 167-run stand for the fourth wicket to demoralise the Bangladeshi bowlers. Pant began the second session by slamming Shakib Al Hasan down the ground for six and swept him for four more. He then cut Mehidy Hasan Miraz for four more before getting his hundred in 124 balls with a brace driven wide of long-off.

After hitting two quick boundaries, Pant fell in a bid to attack more as he hit straight back to Mehidy in a caught and bowled dismissal, with his walk back to the pavilion marked by a rousing standing ovation from 13,501 fans in attendance.

Gill made use of Shakib’s poor lengths to get consecutive fours, before getting his third Test hundred in his last five matches in the format in 161 balls. KL Rahul also played four free-flowing boundaries to be 21 not out, before Rohit Sharma came out of the dressing room and called the batters in to declare India’s second innings.

Brief scores: India 376 and 287/4 dec in 64 overs (Shubman Gill 119 not out, Rishabh Pant 109; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2-103) lead Bangladesh 149 and 56/0 (Zakir Hasan 32 not out, Shadman Islam 21 not out) by 459 runs

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