Rishabh Pant equals MS Dhoni’s record with hundred on Test comeback during IND vs BAN 1st match

Chennai: Rishabh Pant marked his return to Test cricket with a brilliant hundred on Day 3 of the ongoing Test match against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday. In the process, Pant equalled former India captain MS Dhoni for most Test hundreds by a designated Indian wicketkeeper. Both Pant and Dhoni have six hundreds each. While Dhoni completed the feat in 144 innings, Pant reached the milestone in 58 innings. Wriddhiman Saha is third on the list with three Test hundreds.

However, he was dismissed on 109 when Mehidy Hasan Miraz caught him off his own bowling. Pant hit 13 fours and four sixes in his 128-ball innings. Earlier at lunch, India were 205/3. Gill, beginning the day from 33, and Pant, resuming from 12, exploited the inability of Bangladesh bowlers to make the best out of a cool, damp morning with sensible shot-making.

The Indian pair took on Bangladesh bowlers in their own inimitable ways. Minimalism is quintessential to Gill’s batting as he plays shots with little flourish. The short-arm pull from in front of the face or that zero follow-through punch through the covers, which he often executed off Nahid Rana and Mahmud Hasan, might not be out of the batting manual but productive nonetheless.

The left-hander started rather sedately, perhaps wanted to get his eye in before opening up. The breakaway moment came when he pulled off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a four around the first drinks break of the day. Since that point, Pant’s dismantling of Miraz became a feature of the innings as he brought up his fifty off 88 balls.

Once that fifty was achieved, the 26-year-old unfurled some of those typical Pant shots. Pant moved around the crease like a trapeze artist, and his scooped six over fine leg off Mahmud enthralled a sizeable weekend crowd here. He was dropped on 72 by Najmul Hossain Shanto off Shakib Al Hasan as India added 124 runs in the session.