Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) Mushfiqur Rahim achieved a historic feat in the ongoing first Test against India at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday as he surpassed Tamim Iqbal’s run tally to become Bangladesh’s all-time highest run-getter in international cricket.
Rahim, who played a knock of 13 before Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed him in the final session of Day Three, has accumulated 15,205 runs including 20 centuries and 82 fifties in 464 matches across formats. Previously, former captain Tamim Iqbal held the record of most run-getter for Bangladesh with 15,192 runs in 387 games including 25 hundreds and 94 half-centuries.
Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is third on the list with a tally of 14,701 runs in 446 matches with 14 centuries and 100 fifties. He is currently not out on six and will resume his innings along with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (51*) on Sunday as they chase a monumental target of 515 to win the match.
In the first innings, India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah removed Rahim for eight and returned with the figures of 4-50 to bundle out the visiting side for 149 on Friday.
Earlier in the day, double hundreds from Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill allowed Rohit Sharma to declare the second innings for 287/4 in the second session of the day.
Gill, after bagging a duck in the first innings, led India’s charge with a fine 119 not out, laced with 10 fours and four sixes. Pant, playing in his comeback Test match, made a superb 109 – where he took his time before unleashing his attacking shots in his knock laced with 13 fours and four sixes.
The duo shared an enterprising 167-run stand for the fourth wicket to demoralise the Bangladeshi bowlers. The main interest in the second session was always going to be about when India would declare its innings.
Pant got to his hundred first – slamming Shakib down the ground for six and swept him for four more. He then cut Mehidy Hasan Miraz for four more before getting his hundred in 124 balls with a brace driven wide of long-off. With his sixth Test century, Pant now has equalled M.S. Dhoni for the joint-most centuries hit by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter in the longer format.
After hitting two quick boundaries, Pant fell in a bid to attack more as he hit straight back to Mehidy in a caught and bowled dismissal. Gill made use of Shakib’s poor lengths to get consecutive fours, before getting his third Test hundred in his last five Tests via 161 balls.
K.L. Rahul also played four free-flowing boundaries to be 21 not out, before Rohit Sharma came out of the dressing room and called the batters in to declare India’s second innings.
Bangladesh will resume their innings from 158/4 on the penultimate day of the match after bad lights forced early stumps on Saturday. They are still 357 runs behind the winning target.
–IANS
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