1st Test, Day 3: India Declare After Gill, Pujara Smash Centuries; Set Target Of 513 For Bangladesh

1st Test, Day 3: India declare after Gill, Pujara smash centuries; set target of 513 for Bangladesh (Image Source: IANS)

Chattogram, Dec 16, Shubman Gill registered his maiden Test century while Cheteshwar Pujara smashed his fastest Test hundred ever as India declared at 258/2 on day three, setting a mammoth target of 513 for Bangladesh on Day 3 of the first match, here on Friday.

Gill overcame a tough start in the first session to hit a quick 110, hitting ten fours and three sixes in a knock where he eventually came at his fluent best. Pujara was in sublime touch throughout his 102 not out and once Gill fell, he made runs rapidly to ensure India didn't lose out on a lot of time while he got his first Test century since January 2019.

After Gill shared a 70-run opening stand with captain KL Rahul, he went on to stitch a 113-run stand off 162 balls for the second wicket with Pujara as the duo piled misery on a tired Bangladesh bowling attack.

After a couple of quiet overs in the final session, Gill cut loose by dancing down the pitch and dispatching Litton Das for a huge six over long-on fence. He then brought out reverse-sweep against Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a boundary, before coming down the pitch and lofting the off-spinner over mid-on to get his maiden Test hundred in 147 balls.

In Mehidy's next over, Gill would dance down the pitch and loft over long-on for six, but in a bid to get another six, he holed out to deep mid-wicket. In the same over, Pujara got his fifty by dancing down the pitch to loft over mid-off for a boundary.

Pujara used his feet beautifully, coming down the pitch constantly to flick, paddle-sweep and loft over mid-on and mid-off against Mehidy and Taijul Islam. When Mehidy bowled short, he was quick to go on back-foot and punch through right of mid-off and would bring out the sweep to collect two boundaries.

A short ball turning in from Yasir Ali was treated with a handsome pull through fine leg by Pujara and when Taijul was brought back in the attack, he broke his century drought by dancing down the pitch again to whip past mid-on for a boundary to raise his first Test hundred after three years.

Brief Scores: India 404 in 133.5 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 90; Taijul Islam 4/133) and 258/2 declared in 61.4 overs (Shubman Gill 110, Cheteshwar Pujara 102 not out; Khaled Ahmed 1/51, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 1/82) lead Bangladesh 150 all out in 55.5 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 28, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 25; Kuldeep Yadav 5/40, Mohammed Siraj 3/20) by 512 runs

A short ball turning in from Yasir Ali was treated with a handsome pull through fine leg by Pujara and when Taijul was brought back in the attack, he broke his century drought by dancing down the pitch again to whip past mid-on for a boundary to raise his first Test hundred after three years.

nr/ak 

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