CHATTOGRAM: Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan, two youthful Bangladeshi openers, helped the hosts reach 42/0 at the end of day three after Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara helped India set a target of 513 for the first Test at Chattogram on Friday.
India declared their second innings at 258/2 in 61.4 overs after Kuldeep Yadav's third five-wicket haul in his eighth Test helped India bowl out Bangladesh for 150 in the first innings. Gill hit a quick 110, his first century in the format, and Pujara smashed 102 not out, his fastest-ever hundred and first since January 2019.
With the light waning, Shanto and Zakir, who were attempting to chase down 513, did well to successfully navigate the challenging 12-over phase. The surface did have some turn available for the Indian bowlers, but with two full days remaining in the match and Bangladesh still trailing by 471 runs, the visitors would have to put in a lot of effort.
After a few uneventful overs in the previous session, Gill let loose and blasted Litton Das for a big six-over the long-on fence by dancing down the pitch. After hitting Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a boundary with a reverse sweep, he came down the pitch and lofted the off-spinner over mid-on to score his first Test century in 147 deliveries.
Gill danced down the pitch and lofted over long-on for six in Mehidy's subsequent over, but in an attempt to get another six, he holed out to deep mid-wicket. Pujara scored his fifty runs in the same over by dancing down the pitch and lofting the ball over mid-off for a boundary.
Pujara displayed excellent footwork, continuously descending the pitch to flick, paddle-sweep, and loft over mid-on and mid-off in opposition to spinners. Mehidy was quick to get on the back foot, punch through the right side of mid-off, and then bring out the sweep to collect two boundaries when he bowled short.
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