"Had to tell him to calm down": Shubman Gill reveals Rishabh Pant nearly broke his precious bat

Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant starred with the bat in the second innings to put India in the driver's seat in the ongoing first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Even though India took a big lead in the first innings, they were in a spot of bother after losing three early wickets. Rohit Sharma (5), Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) and Virat Kohli (17) failed to get going with the bat. India were reeling at 67 for 3 when Rishabh Pant joined Shubman Gill in the middle.

From thereon, it was one-way traffic as the young batsmen put India in a commanding position by scoring brilliant centuries. They shared a 167-run stand for the fourth wicket. The partnership came to an end with Pant's dismissal on day three.

The wicketkeeper-batsman departed after scoring 109 runs from 128 balls with the help of 13 fours and 4 sixes. On the other hand, Shubman Gill remained unbeaten on 119 runs as India declared their innings on 287/4.

Shubman Gill on batting with Rishabh Pant:

The camaraderie between Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant was in full flow as they were batting together. Both the players were enjoying each other's company during the partnership. Speaking at the end of the third day's play, Gill also shared a hilarious anecdote.

During the partnership, Pant was seen tapping his bat on Gill's bat a number of times. And while it is not unusual for players to tap the bat, Gill was left concerned as he thought Pant would break his bat. Gill revealed that he was playing with an old bat that he has been using since the series against England earlier this year and was very concerned.

"I was telling him to not do so because I was playing with a bat that I played the England series with. So, my bat is quite old actually," Gill said at the press conference.

"He was hitting my bat so hard I was telling him I am trying to save my bat. And if he didn’t get it right, while we were in the middle, he would say ‘No, let’s do it again.’ I had to tell him to calm down," he added.

Meanwhile, India have set Bangladesh a huge target of 515 runs. In reply, Bangladesh were on 158/4 at the the end of the third day. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (51) and Shakib Al-Hasan (5) will resume the proceedings with the bat on day four.