Gill-Pujara masterclass puts India in driving seat; set Bangladesh 513 to win
Pujara and Gill both scored centuries [Source: Associated Press]
Heading into this Test match, Team India had a lot of questions to answer. How will Pujara fair in this match? Will Gill answer his critics who questioned his place in the Test team? Well, by the end of Day 4, these two questions have been answered in style.
India batted and batted well and set a target of 513 for Bangladesh to chase, courtesy of sublime centuries from Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Gill, often touted as the future of the Indian cricket slammed his maiden Test hundred, while Pujara finally came to life and ended his long standing century drought to notch up his 19th century in red-ball cricket.
But let us go back to how the day began. India needed 2 wickets to wrap up the Bangladesh first innings, and they did it quickly in the morning session. Kuldeep Yadav, who made a comeback in the Test arena bagged his third 5-wicket haul and dismissed the home side for a paltry 150.
To everyone's surprise, India's stand-in skipper, KL Rahul didn't enforce the follow-on and his troops decided to bat first once again. With a lead in excess of 250, India had plenty of runs to play with. The wicket got better and the batters did their job to perfection.
KL Rahul once again faltered (23), but Gill and Pujara steadied the ship. Bangladesh bowlers had to toil for nearly 26 overs for the next wicket as the duo started slowly, but kept on churning runs at regular intervals.
There was a different Pujara that we witnessed. He started at his usual pace, but increased the scoring rate once he went past the 50-run mark. Gill supported him from the other end as the dashing batter finally got to his maiden Test ton. He was eventually dismissed for 110 by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
With the declaration in India's mind, Pujara upped his ante and brought up his century (his fastest Test ton till date).
With a mammoth 513 to climb, Bangladesh openers started steadily and ensured that they don't lose a single wicket at stumps.
At stumps on Day 4, the home side are 42 for no loss and still need a massive 471 to win.
Brief Score
India 2nd innings: 258-2 (61.4)
Shubman Gill 110 (152), Cheteshwar Pujara 102* (130);
Mehidy Hasan Miraz 1-82 (14), Khaled Ahmed 1-51 (13)
Bangladesh 2nd innings: 42-0 (12)
Najmul Hossain Shanto 25* (42), Zakir Hasan 17 (30)
Bangladesh still need 471 to win
Also Read: Cheteshwar Pujara slams ton, bats Bangladesh out of the match
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 "Anurag Dasgupta")
