India's Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant put together a remarkable 167-run partnership for the fourth wicket against Bangladesh, helping India set a formidable target of 515 runs in Chennai. During their time at the crease, Pant's mischievous antics left Gill unsettled, a story Gill later shared during the press conference, much to the amusement of the reporters. The brilliant partnership comes after a disastrous first innings.
About their on crease banter, Gill said, "I'm playing with a bat that I played against England. So my bat is quite old, actually, and he was hitting my bat so hard. I was telling him, you know, I'm trying to save my bat, and if he didn't middle that if he didn't middle it while in the middle, he would say no, let's do it again, bro, calm down."
Gill on Saturday scored his third century in 2024 and fifth in his career, en route to an unbeaten 119 that led India to declare their second innings at 287 for four.
Meanwhile, Pant played a 109-run knock from 128 balls at a strike rate of 85.16 in the second inning. The India wicketkeeper-batter slammed 13 fours and 4 sixes during his time on the crease. His knock came to an end after Mehidy Hasan Miraz dismissed him in the 56th over of India's second inning.
Gill also spoke at lenght about the England series, he said, “I think the series that I had against England gave me a lot of confidence. I felt it was a long time coming for me, especially batting at that position (No. 3). And having got out the way I got out in the first innings (down the leg-side), I was obviously very disappointed.”
“But it further motivated me to be able to spend a lot of time on the crease and put extra value on my wicket. I think my best is yet to come,” he said.
In the home series against England, Gill smashed two centuries - at Visakhapatnam and Dharamsala earlier this year, scoring 452 runs in five matches.
