1st Test: Half Centuries From Shubman Gill And Rishabh Pant Take India’s Lead To 432

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, made a superb 109 – where he took his time before unleashing his attacking shots in his knock laced with 13 fours and four sixes.

The duo shared an enterprising 167-run stand for the fourth wicket to demoralise the Bangladeshi bowlers. The main interest in the second session was always going to be about when India would declare its innings.

Pant got to his hundred first – 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.

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. 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.

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

Previously, the first session on day three turned out to be another brilliant session for India as Gill and Pant took a demoralised Bangladesh bowling line-up to cleaners by making 128 runs in 24 overs on a cloudy day at Chepauk.

Both Gill and Pant have looked untroubled, as they took their time and then unleashed their shots to pile more misery on Bangladesh – barring a dropped chance of the latter on 72 by Najmul Hossain Shanto off Shakib just before lunch.

In the morning, with lack of lateral movement on offer for Bangladesh, Pant played two controlled pulls for boundaries, before Gill danced down the pitch to thump Mehidy for back-to-back sixes and get his Test fifty in style.

Pant and Gill were consciously looking to play for a long time, leading to a little drop in the scoring rate. But Pant broke a 46-ball boundary drought by dancing down the pitch off Mehidy Hasan to smack a four straight down the ground.

Pant continued to waltz down the pitch off Mehidy – this time dispatching him for a one-handed six before reaching his fifty. There was no respite for Bangladesh as Gill continued to dazzle with his down the ground and pull shots, while Pant was terrific in his loft, reverse-sweep, backfoot punch, and heave shots to dispatch bowlers all over the park.

After being dropped on 72 by Shanto off an off-colour Shakib, Pant brought out the sweep and down the ground shot over long-off to take a brace of fours and push the match totally out of Bangladesh’s reach.

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 by 514 runs

--IANS

Read Sports News

Total FII investment till September 20 stood at Rs 33,699 crore, taking the total FII investment in the country to Rs 76,585 crore this year to date, as per NSDL data.

Market watchers said that the trend of FII buying is likely to continue in the coming days.

Manoj Purohit from BDO India said the US Federal Reserve made the first interest rate cut in the last four years, by a larger than anticipated margin of 50 bps and the foreign portfolio investors (FPI) fraternity has been conscious about this move and reacted passively.

“The Indian markets reflected their resilience on a positive note basis the strong fundamentals and robust economy performance at the expected GDP growth,” said Purohit.

September witnessed the second highest inflows in 2024 so far, the last one being in March.

The flood of FII money has appreciated the rupee by 0.4 per cent for the week ended September 20. This can boost further FII buying, sayd analysts.

Despite global uncertainties, the primary factors, to make emerging markets like India a sweet spot, are balanced fiscal deficits, rate cut impacts on the Indian currency, strong valuations, and RBI’s approach to keep inflation under control without a rate cut.

To add, the IPOs announced this year attracted a large chunk of foreign funds making the Indian capital market buoyant and a lucrative place to shift their positions from other riskier countries, said analysts.

All eyes on the RBI now whether it follows the suit by making a cut in the repo rate in October or wait till December.

There is a strong case to marginally cut rates to manage food inflation, diluted interest from household savings which impact the retail lending business of banks.

India’s monetary policy has been more conservative despite the Fed's action so far, said Purohit.

(IANS)

read more Business News

Shastri's remark came after Kohli lost his wicket to spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the second innings of the ongoing first Test against Bangladesh at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday. Kohli, who was loooking in good rhythm, was trapped in front of the wickets on the ball that pitched on the middle stump line. Kohli departed after scoring 17 as he didn't take the DRS which later showed that the ball had edged his bat before hitting the pads.

"He has (gotten out to spinners) especially in the last 2-3 years. But he has scored a lot of runs too. What you want to see him do more is use his feet. Get to the pitch of the ball, probably employ the sweep. You’ve got to move with the times, don’t be afraid to go over the top when the field is up. You could try and do things to unsettle the spinners rather than allowing him to keep bowling at you. It’s what he did a lot when he scored a lot of runs," Shastri said during the match commentary.

"Also some of the tracks that India have played on. It’s not been easy. Plus I know a few dismissals where like Shubman Gill in the first innings, he’s gotten caught down leg wide. Funny dismissals. He’ll be aware of it. That’s for sure. There is no batter who doesn’t remember. Obviously you find a method of finding a solution. Find out what works for you and stick with that," he added.

Kohli, who only got six runs in the first innings, has been struggling to pile runs on home soil in Test cricket since the last two years. Former captain has only scored one century in the last six Tests in India. However, his last Test century came against West Indies in Port of Spain last year.

Since 2021, Kohli has played 14 Test matches in Asia, scoring 654 runs from 23 innings at an average of 29.72, with one century and two half-centuries to his name. His overall Test performance has dipped during this period, accumulating just 1669 runs from 51 innings at an average of 32.72, with eight half-centuries and two hundreds.

Kohli will be eager to improve these numbers as India prepare for upcoming series against New Zealand and Australia, where his experience will be vital for the team's success.

--IANS

Read Sports News