United News of Bangladesh

Rishabh Pant smashed his second century of the Leeds Test at Headingley on Monday, following up his brilliant 134 in the first innings with another crucial hundred when India found themselves under pressure. Coming to the crease with India struggling at 92 for 3, Pant stitched together a massive 195-run stand with KL Rahul, who contributed a superb 137. Pant's knock of 118, laced with 15 boundaries and 3 sixes, helped India set a formidable target of 371 runs for England. With this feat, Pant became the first Indian to register centuries in both innings of a Test in England. He also joined an elite group of Indian players — Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar (who achieved the feat three times), Rahul Dravid (twice), Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rohit Sharma — to have scored tons in both innings of a Test match. Rahul and Pant's centuries set England 371 at Headingley Pant’s four centuries in England, which include his 114 at The Oval in 2018 and 146 at Edgbaston in 2022, have now drawn him level with Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and Dilip Vengsarkar, both of whom have scored four Test hundreds on English soil. Only Rahul Dravid, with six centuries, sits ahead of him. With four more Tests left on India’s current England tour, Pant has a strong chance to surpass Dravid and set a new Indian record. Additionally, Pant became only the second designated wicketkeeper-batter to hit centuries in both innings of a Test, a rare feat first achieved by Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower. Pant's total of 252 runs in the Leeds Test is now the highest match aggregate by an Indian wicketkeeper, surpassing Budhi Kunderan's 230-run effort against England in Chennai in 1964. It also ranks as the fourth-highest match aggregate by any wicketkeeper in Test history, with Andy Flower still holding the top spot. Moreover, Pant has joined an elite club of visiting players with five consecutive fifty-plus scores in England, a list that includes cricket legends Don Bradman, Hansie Cronje, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kumar Sangakkara, and Daryl Mitchell. Only Steve Smith has more, with seven successive fifty-plus scores. Pant dazzles with fearless century at Headingley as India shine against England In addition, the Leeds Test turned out to be historic for India, with four Indian batters — Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Pant — scoring centuries at Headingley. Notably, Pant contributed two of those five centuries, marking a rare and remarkable achievement for Indian cricket. #With inputs from Agencies

India's former skipper Rahul Dravid, once called 'The Wall', is likely to succeed Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the country's cricket team. According to local media reports, 48-year-old Dravid has agreed to take over as the chief coach of India's national cricket team from Shastri after the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman. Quoting unnamed sources, the reports said that India's all-powerful cricket board chief Sourav Ganguly spoke with Dravid "and the latter has agreed" to coach Indian players. READ: Chennai beats Kolkata in final to clinch 4th IPL title Shastri's tenure as India's head coach ends with the T20 World Cup, slated to take place in the two Gulf states from October 17 to November 14. Dravid is currently the director of the national cricket academy of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He will have to step down from his position to take over as the national cricket coach. Popularly known as "Mr Dependable", Dravid, alongside Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, were part of a formidable batting line-up that steered India to win many matches at home and abroad. All have retired from cricket. Dravid made his Test debut against England in 1996 with a brilliant knock of 95 at Lord’s. In a career spanning 16 years, Dravid scored 13,288 runs in 164 Tests. He accumulated 10,889 runs in 344 one-day internationals. Not only Shastri, India's charismatic skipper Virat Kohli will also step down as the country's T20 international captain after the T20 World Cup. READ: Youth ODI: Bangladesh lose series opener against Sri Lanka "I have decided to step down as the T20 captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October," the 32-year-old said in a social media post last month.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal, who was given captaincy of the ODI side, said he would work hard to make sure that the team comes first.