Ghastly and boisterous, the pink ball that rolled at the Eden Gardens on Friday led to two concussions and a quirky scorecard with 12 batsmen. The India pacers ran through Bangladesh, dismissing it for 106, to be on top of the historic Test match on Day 1.
Liton Das and Nayeem Hasan retired hurt post Mohammed Shami blows to their helmet. Mehidy Hasan Miraz batted on behalf of Das to find a place in the scorecard. He will not be allowed to bowl as he is not a like-for-like sub for the injured wicketkeeper-batsman. Taijul Islam, on the other hand, rolled an arm as he replaced off-spinner Hasan.
Bangladesh’s lack of preparation reflected loud and clear as it folded before dark. The lights, however, came on around 4:15 pm when the ball started flying.
Electing to bat, Bangladesh opener Imrul Kayes (4) cut a sorry figure one more time. Ishant Sharma dismissed him lbw to draw first blood. The middle-order couldn’t do the jumping jack against the over enthusiastic pink ball with bounce and late movement. Skipper Mominul Haque, star batsman Mushfique Rahim and Mohammad Mithun didn’t disturb the scorers.
Rohit Sharma caught Haque off Umesh Yadav by jumping to his right. It was a low catch, well executed and watched. A few minutes later, Yadav sent Mithun’s stumps cartwheeling and Shami kissed the top of Rahim’s middle stump.
As the match progressed, the ball became wilder.
Wriddhiman Saha jumped left to right, crawled, moonwalked and squatted to keep himself flexible against the bouncing pink. He completed 100+ dismissals in Test cricket with two catches.
Ishant continued his dominance. He sent Mahmudullah [caught behind], Hasan and Ebadat Hossain [bowled] packing to become the first Indian bowler with pink ball five-for.
Shadman Islam (29) was Bangladesh's highest-scorer for his 78-minute vigil on crease.
India used four bowlers. Ishant, Shami and Yadav along with slow left-arm Ravindra Jadeja who bowled one over. Ravichandran Ashwin wasn’t used at all.
India innings
Batting under the lights for most part of the evening, India finished at 174/3 to take a handsome 68-run lead at stumps.
Bangladesh pacers Al-Amin Hossain (1/49) and Ebadat Hossain (2/61) stuck to good lengths but the Indian batsmen, coming with a fair bit of pink ball experience, handled with care.
Openers Mayank Agarwal (14) and Rohit Sharma (21) didn’t spend too much time in the middle.
Rohit looked in good spirits today as he cleared the ropes once. Al-Amin even dropped him on 12. Then, Ebadat trapped the hitman in front of his stumps while Al-Amin cashed in on the extra movement to confuse Mayank, who was caught at gully.
Kohli and Pujara hit 16 fours, stitching a 94-run stand for the third wicket in 112 mins and 158 balls. The second day will start with Ajinkya Rahane (23 not out) and Kohli.
Ebadat had a Sheldon Cottrell-like salute celebration after claiming the wickets of Rohit and Pujara who was caught at second slip by Shadman.
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