"He played like how you bat on Australian pitches": Former Pakistan cricketer hails Rishabh Pant after his ton in Chennai Test

NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali heaped praise on Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant following his marvellous century against Bangladesh in the ongoing Chennai Test on his return to Test matches.

Pant played a 109-run knock from 128 balls at a strike rate of 85.16 in the second inning. The 26-year-old slammed 13 fours and 4 sixes during his time on the crease. His knock came to an end after Mehidy Hasan Miraz dismissed him in the 56th over of India's second inning.

"Rishabh Pant played like how you bat on Australian pitches. I liked seeing the shots he played because many people had said that he might never return to the field after the accident. We must give the credit as he worked very hard after the injury. He came back with full confidence and ticked all the boxes that you need in Test cricket," Basit Ali said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

Pant made his return to Test cricket in the two-match long-format series after his life-threatening road accident back in 2022-end.

Further, the 53-year-old asserted that the hosts shouldn't have declared the innings so early. He said that the team should have "benefitted more" if middle-order batter KL Rahul had batted for some more time in the middle.

"India declaring their innings was a bad decision. KL Rahul should have been given a chance to find his form since he didn't score big runs in the Duleep Trophy. India would have benefited more if Rahul scored 70-80 runs here because he bats at a position that will be crucial in Australia," Basit Ali added.

Rahul played a valuable knock of unbeaten 22 runs in 19 balls, which included four boundaries in his inning.

At the end of day three, Bangladesh were 158/4, with skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (51*) and Shakib Al Hasan (5*) unbeaten. Bangladesh started the post-Tea session at 56/0 with Shadman Islam (21) and Zakir Hasan (32) unbeaten on the crease.

Jasprit Bumrah struck early for India in the session, removing Zakir for 33 (47 balls). The rest three wickets were picked by Ravichandran Ashwin as he dismissed Shadman Islam (35), Mominul Haque (13), and Mushfiqur Rahim (13).

The second session of Day three of the Chennai Test resumed with India at 205/3 with Rishabh Pant (82*) and Shubman Gill (86*) unbeaten on the crease. India now have a lead of 432 runs.

Gill played an unbeaten knock of 119 runs from 176 balls, which was laced with 10 boundaries and four maximums.

Middle-order batter KL Rahul also played a valuable knock of unbeaten 22 runs in 19 balls, which included four boundaries.

India declared their innings when the team score was 287 runs for the loss of four wickets. They set a target of 515 runs for the visitors in order to win the first match of the series.