Shubman Gill and hundreds are not the best of friends in international cricket. He does all the right things in every format, gets a half-century, gets to the 70s and 80s but the magical three-figure mark eludes him more often than not. It took him three years to score his first international century. Of course, in between, he never played regularly but whenever he played, he looked good, and got close but somehow the century didn’t come. The drought ended when he hit a 130 against Zimbabwe in an ODI in August this year. His wait, however, continued in Test cricket. It finally came to an end on Day 3 of the India vs Bangladesh first Test in Chattogram.
The expression on Gill’s face, therefore, was apt. He is not one of those who would scream his lungs out. To be honest, his shrill voice won’t even allow him even if he tries to. But Gill doesn’t walk that road. After dancing down the track to hit off-spinner Mehidy Hasan for a one-bounce four to get to his maiden Test hundred, all Gill did was raise his bat to the dressing room and bow to the likes of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul who were all smiles and clapping.
Watch Video: This is how Shubman Gill celebrated after scoring his maiden Test hundred
It was a wonderful innings from Gill. Yes, Bangladesh were at least a couple of bowlers short thanks to the injuries to Ebadot Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan. Yes, India were in complete control of the match and in the context of the game, the number of runs Gill got would have hardly mattered. But for a young cricketer trying to cement his spot in all three formats, someone who has only got an opportunity to play this Test because the captain was ruled out with a dislocated left thumb, every run counted. The century was worth its weight in gold.
That Gill is a fine player of spin-bowling is no secret but the way he dominated Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam, especially after he got out trying to play a cute paddle sweep to the left-arm spinner in the first innings, spoke volumes.
He hit three sixes and 10 fours and three sixes, scoring his 110 runs at a strike rate of 72 before getting holed out in the deep while trying to hit Mehidy for another six.
Gill’s attacking century ensured India were poised to force a declaration on Bangladesh at the end of Friday. Credit must be given to Cheteshwar Pujara, who ended his century drought by slamming his fastest Test hundred off 130 balls. India declared their second innings at 258/2, setting Bangladesh a mammoth target of 513.
