India’s wicket-keeper bat Rishabh Pant returned to Test cricket after a 629-day hiatus and he was able to hit the ground running in the most challenging format of the game. Pant scored 39 runs in the first innings of the opening Test match against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai and added 62 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The left-hander walked into bat at 67-3 in the second innings with India enjoying a healthy lead. There were only a few minutes left in the second day’s play but Pant played like Pant, turning back the clock.
On third day’s play, he completed his sixth Test century, equaling MS Dhoni’s tally, and FYI he is only 34 Test matches old. Pant went on to score 109 runs before he was brilliantly caught and bowled by Mehidy Hasan Miraz and added a fine alliance of 167 runs with Shubman Gill, who scored an unbeaten 119 before Indian captain Rohit Sharma decided to declare at 287-4, giving a daunting target of 515 to the Tigers.
Bangladesh was skittled out for 234 runs in the second essay, courtesy a six-wicket haul from Ravichandran Ashwin and India registered a gargantuan win of 280 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Rishabh Pant said while talking to the host broadcasters after the win, “Definitely a lot special, firstly I love playing in Chennai and secondly after injury I was looking to play all three formats, this was my first match in this format and hopefully I did better. Definitely, it was emotional, I was looking to score runs in each and every game.”
He added, “Coming back to Test cricket where I belong the most, being on the field gives me pleasure more than anything else. I don’t know what people say outside, I tried to read the situation in my own way, when you are 30-3 you need to stitch a partnership and that’s what I did with Gill. To do it with a guy who I have a great relationship with is special.”
The second Test match between India and Bangladesh will be played at Green Park, Kanpur from September 27.
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