When India came out to bat on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, they had a lead of over 300 runs already. It seemed as if it was only a matter of time before they declared with Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill accelerating the run-scoring by the end of the first session. However, both players were nearing their respective centuries as well and with the declaration in mind, skipper Rohit Sharma gave an indirect message hilariously to his teammates at lunch.
Both Gill and Pant were in their 80s at the lunch break and Rohit cleared that he would declare in an hour after lunch asking the batters to score whatever they wanted during this period. Pant revealed the conversation after the match while speaking to the host broadcaster when he was asked the reason for playing fast.
"Jab lunch pe gaye the to declare karne ki baat ho rahi thi, Rohit bhai ne bola ek ghanta khelne ko dekhenge bhai jisko jitna run banana hai bana lo to mere ko ye mindset aaya ki thoda jaldi bana leta hun kya pata 150 ban jaye (At lunch, there were talks of declaration. At that time, Rohit bhai said that we would declare after an hour so whoever wants to score runs, do it quickly. So I changed my mindset and started scoring fast thinking that I could even get to 150)," Pant said.
For the unversed, in the post-lunch session, Pant and Gill both notched up their respective centuries while KL Rahul also got some much-needed game time as he remained unbeaten on 22 off 19 deliveries with four fours to his name. Skipper Rohit Sharma also praised Rishabh Pant for making an impact in his comeback match in the format reflecting on the tough times he has gone through in the last 18 months or so.
"He's been through some really tough times. The way he has managed himself through those tough times was superb to watch. He came back in the IPL, followed by a very successful World Cup and this is the format he loves the most. For us, it was never about what is he going to do with the bat, we always knew what he had with the bat and with the gloves as well.
"It was just about giving him the game time. Credit to him as well, he went on to play Duleep Trophy and got ready for this Test match and had an impact straightaway in the game," Rohit said.
