Rishabh Pant's Chennai Test hundred as special as Gabba knock: Childhood coach

India vs Bangladesh, 1st Test: Rishabh Pant hit an entertaining second innings hundred, seamlessly returning to the longest format of the game, in Chennai. Pant was at his fluent best during the record-equalling knock.

In Short

• Rishabh Pant hit 109 in an entertaining knock in India's second innings in Chennai
• In his first Test on return from the long layoff, Pant came up with a special knock
• Pant equalled MS Dhoni's record for the most Test hundreds by an Indian wicketkeeper

Rishabh Pant's childhood coach Devender Shama was thrilled to bits on Saturday, seeing his ward Rishabh Pant mark his return to Test cricket with a hundred. Devender said the 109 in the second innings of the Chennai Test against Bangladesh is as special as Pant's 109 in the iconic Gabba win over Australia in 2021.

Rishabh Pant hit his sixth hundred, his first since returning to international cricket after recovering from multiple injuries he suffered in a road accident in December 2022. While Pant made his white-ball comeback in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year, there were question marks about his ability to return to red-ball cricket seamlessly. After playing an entertaining knock in a Duleep Trophy match in September, Pant was picked in the XI for the first of the two-match series against Bangladesh.

Chennai Test, Day 4 Updates

Pant looked solid in the first innings, hitting a crucial 39, helping India recover from 39 for 3. The wicketkeeper-batter made it big in the second innings, hitting a quickfire hundred, smashing 13 boundaries and four sixes as India set a 515-run target for the visiting Bangladesh team. Pant was emotional after he reached the three-figure score as he celebrated by thanking the almighty.

"Obviously I am very happy for Rishabh. In fact, he could have got a hundred in the first innings also and I was a bit sad that he didn't get that. But today (Saturday) he was flawless. This hundred is an important innings for him as it's his first international ton since comeback," Devender told news agency PTI.

"The series-winning knock at the Gabba will forever be special for everyone but if as a coach I am asked about this knock, it is invaluable and couldn't have come at a more opportune time.

"Every player needs that confidence and irrespective of all your heady achievements in white ball cricket, it is your Test match exploits that you are remembered for. After the accident and the kind of rehabilitation that he had to go through, this knock will be right up there," he added.

Pant looked confident and comfortable in the middle, seamlessly returning to action in the traditional format. With the hundred on Saturday, he equalled MS Dhoni's record for most hundreds by an Indian wicketkeeper in Test cricket.

Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill hit a hundred each in the third innings as India extended their dominance in the first Test. India were reeling at 144 for 6 in the first innings after they were sent into bat. However, a hundred from R Ashwin and a gritty 86 from Ravindra Jadeja helped them post 376. In reply, Bangladesh managed only 149 in their first innings after a disciplined bowling show from the hosts.