India 376 and 287 for 4 dec (Gill 119*, Pant 109) lead Bangladesh 149 by 514 runs

Playing in his first Test in nearly 700 days, Pant brought up an emotional sixth hundred before Gill did. When he walked back, he acknowledged the person upstairs. Gill was more serene in how he got to his fifth. In his brief stay at the wicket, Rahul displayed his class with some inside-out drives.

Unlike Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma on the third evening, who just tried to impose themselves on the bowling, these two began the day respecting the bowling and the fact that they could afford to defend for a while without worrying about edges and close-in fielders. Only in the seventh over of the day did someone try to force the issue, and Gill did that beautifully with the two sixes over wide long-on.

Pant, extra conscious to not give it away after a soft dismissal in the first innings, took even more time before he went manufacturing shots – none better than the ramp-sweep off Hasan Mahmud for a six over fine leg 10 minutes before lunch.

Gill joined in the acceleration before lunch, suggesting the declaration might come sooner rather than later. With that push for quicker runs came a skier from Pant seven minutes before the break, but captain Najmul Hossain Shanto put it down. Pant still hit two fours in the final over before the lunch break, as both batters ended the session in their eighties.