Shubman Gill smashed his fifth Test century and the second one against Bangladesh in the series opener at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday. Gill, who was dismissed for a duck in an unfortunate manner in the first innings, getting caught down the leg side, made amends with a masterful century in the second innings. On Day 3, Gill became only the second Indian No.3 after former captain and head coach Rahul Dravid to score a Test century at this venue. In 35 Tests in Chennai, Dravid was India's only No.3 to score a century before Gill joined him on Saturday.

Gill got to his milestone with a single off Bangladesh off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz and bowed to the crowd in a signature fashion. He remained unbeaten on 119 off 176 balls as India declared their second innings on 285/4, setting Bangladesh a mammoth target of 515. It will be a world record if Bangladesh manage to pull this off. From the evidence of their first innings - all out for 149 - and the strong Indian bowling attack, it looks unlikely.

Gill faced 176 balls in his innings, hitting 10 shots to the fence and four over it.

Gill set up a huge partnership for the fourth wicket with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who hit his sixth Test century on his comeback to red-ball cricket after a gap of nearly two years. He also equalled MS Dhoni's record for most Test centuries by an Indian keeper-batter. Gill and Pant put on a sparkling 167-run stand that almost put Bangladesh out of the contest. The partnership was significant as India, despite being in control of the Test match, lost their first three wickets in the second innings for 67.

Gill's second innings mastery

Gill was a different batter in the second innings. He looked in control even against the new ball towards the end of the second day's play. It has now emerged as a pattern in Gill's Test career. He appears to be more comfortable in the second innings of a Test. He has registered a fifty-plus score in each of his last five knocks in the last second innings. 119*, 104, 91, 52*, 86* are his scores in the last five second innings knocks.

His second innings average 49.11 is also significantly higher than that of his career average of 36.72. If we break it down to the third innings of a match then Gill's average improves further to 55.80. Three of his five Test centuries have come in the third innings of a Test match.

Ravichandran Ashwin handed India an early advantage after his 113 lifted the hosts to 376 from a precarious 144-6.

Jasprit Bumrah turned on the heat to help bundle out Bangladesh for 149, giving the hosts a 227-run lead coming into the second innings.

India are looking to extend their lead at the top of the World Test Championship rankings as they begin a fresh Test season of 10 matches.

Bangladesh have never beaten India in a Test.

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