Tamim Iqbal lauds Gill for “calmness” during ton against Bangladesh in 1st Test

News Mania Desk/ Sohom Chatterjee / 21st September 2024

Ex-Bangladesh batter Tamim Iqbal has lauded Indian top-order batsman Shubman Gill for his “calmness” while scoring the century in the second innings of the first test between India and Bangladesh at Chennai on Saturday.

Bangladesh, after winning the coin toss, chose to bowl first. In the first innings, the Indian top-order collapsed quickly as the score at one point was 34/3. Although Gill and other batters were quick to return to the dressing room, the performances from Yashasvi Jaiswal (56 in 118 balls), Rishabh Pant (39 in 117 balls), Ravichandran Ashwin (113 in 113 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (86 in 117 balls) landed India at 376 in 91.2 overs.

Bangladesh while batting faced major setback as they were bundled out for 149 runs, trailing by 227 runs due to exceptional balling from Jaspreet Bumrah (4/50), Akash Deep (2/19), Mohammed Siraj (2/30) and Jadeja (2/19).

India started batting in their second innings and once again their top order failed to put up a fight as Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were able to put together only 32 runs. However, Subhuman Gill’s 119 in 176 balls and Pant’s 109 in 128 balls put forward a massive target of 515 runs in front of Bangladesh.

Commenting on Gill’s excellent batting, Tamim Iqbal said to Jio Sports, “I think this is a calmness towards him. Even after reaching the hundred. Whatever balls he faced, there was always a calmness towards him. And I think he played some excellent shots. Played up a lovely, lovely innings. Yes, they are talking about Rishabh Pant, the sixes and the fours. But how well has Gill batted? I cannot forget the pull shot that he played yesterday. It is unbelievable. And the drives and the calmness. The best part was the whole calmness. It seems to me I do not know him personally, but he seems to be a very calm man.”

Now in 26 Tests, Gill has scored 1,611 runs at an average of 37.46, with five centuries and six fifties in 48 innings. His best score is 128.

At the end of the third day, Bangladesh were still alive with 158/4. But their chances of winning the match are very slim.