Ban vs India 1st Test: Shubman Gill scores maiden hundred, Pujara reaches triple figures after 1443 days
Things just seem to just getting better for India as they declare their second inning in the first test against Bangladesh with a hefty lead of 512 runs.
And the courtesy for amassing these runs at an alarming rate goes to youngster Shubman Gill, and veteran Chesteshwar Pujara. Both these batters scored magnificent hundreds to put India miles ahead in the Chattogram test.
Shubman Gill’s maiden test century
It has been coming. Everyone knows that, but when will it arrive nobody knew, including the man Shubman Gill himself.
The youngster had a dream start to his career in 2020 against Australia. There he reached in touching distance of a maiden century but couldn’t get there. It would have been a sublime start to the career had he gotten his first century in such challenging conditions.
Fast forward to nearly 2 years in 2022 and Gill came into the Indian test set up in the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma. And the hunt for his maiden test century continued.
After missing out on the same in the first inning, where he scored 20 off 40, Gill was determined to convert his start in the second inning. He took his sweet time to settle in. Got himself to a well deserved fifty, yet again, and only then did he started motoring along.
He threaded a 70-run opening partnership with KL Rahul. Then carried the momentum in another centurion partnership with Pujara. The presence of a level headed cricketer on the other end seemed to have rubbed in on Gill.
And he went on to score his maiden Test century. Gill scored a total of 110 runs off 152 balls, and smashed 10 fours and 3 sixes in the course of his inning. He was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan.
Pujara reaches a hundred after 1443 days
Another man who rose to the occasion was Cheteshwar Pujara. This veteran of the game was dismissed for a score of 90 in the first inning. Hence, he came back strong in the second inning looking for a revenge.
Just like the first inning, nothing perturbed Pujara. Maintained a calm demeanor while batting alongside Gill, who was the aggressor of the two. It was only after Gill’s departure that Pujara picked up pace in his inning.
At one point he was batting at 46 runs from 86 balls. And in the next 44 balls, he scored 54 runs to reach his 19th Test century.
Pujara has waited a long while for this century. His last century came in 2019, hence he had tow wait a total of 1443 days and 52 innings to reach this one.
Coming to the inning, it was the fastest century by Pujara in test matches. It took him just 130 balls to reach the milestone. He scored runs all around the park in this inning, which included a total of 13 fours.
With these two magnificent centuries, India was able to post 258 runs on the board in the second inning. This leaves Bangladesh with a massive target of 513 in a little over 180 overs.
On paper it doesn’t look that hard to achieve, but given the performance of Bangladesh in the first inning, it will be almost an impossible target.
