India opener Mayank Agarwal turned the clock backwards. Batting on 196, and on the brink of a second double ton in his 12th international innings, he hopped down the track to launch a massive six over long-on off Mehidy Hasan — just like how his idol, Virender Sehwag, would do.
Distraught, cold and still, all that off-spinner Mehidy could do is acknowledge the marathon knock of 438 minutes. The host finished with a lead of 343 against Bangladesh at 493 for 6 at stumps on Day Two.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
In the first session, Bangladesh pacers Abu Jayed and Ebadat Hossain looked hungry and keen to prove a point. Cheteshwar Pujara (54, 72b, 9x4) was the first wicket to fall. Strange that the long-inning batsman, who is known for scoring at his own pace and at a strike-rate of close to 47, reached his half-century in only 68 balls. Jayed took advantage of the aggressive Pujara and forced him to nick one to substitute fielder Saif Hassan at gully.
In the next 10 minutes, there was pin drop silence in the stadium. Jayed’s length ball had nipped back in to greet Virat Kohli’s pads. The bowler appealed and once turned down, went for a review after a mini-conference with captain Mominul Haque. Kohli was declared out. He scored a rare duck, 10th overall in 140 innings as a Test batsman since making his debut, after lasting just two balls.
Ajinkya Rahane and Mayank stitched a 190-run stand for the fourth wicket. The duo batted for two-and-a-half sessions (219 minutes) to provide a handsome lead.
Opening up
Mayank opened up after lunch, playing shots all around the ground. He drove and pulled, used the pace of the quicks to score boundaries and took on the spinners. The two pull shots, for boundaries, off Ebadat over midwicket were the Kodak moments of the day.
Mehidy wasn’t getting enough turn since morning but in the 41st over, he created a thin chance when the ball spun back in while Mayank was coming forward to defend. He got an inside edge but the ball rolled away from the stumps.
In the 47th over, umpire Marais Erasmus declared Mayank out lbw off Mehidy. Half-bent and about to sweep, he missed the line and the ball touched his pad; slightly higher than what Erasmus thought. The review brought Mayank back to life.
After eight huge sixes off the spinners — one of which hit the sightscreen — and 28 boundaries, distributed evenly among the Bangladesh bowlers, Mayank finally fell for 243 when he tried to clear the rope in the last session. Mehidy had the last laugh but the damage was done.
Flashes of genius
Rahane missed out on a hundred but the silky innings had flashes of genius. With soft hands, he negotiated beautifully with the pacers and used his feet to tackle Taijul Islam and Mehidy. The 86-run knock off 172 balls comprised nine fours. He tried to have a go at a wide of off Jayed delivery to find Islam at deep point.
Ravindra Jadeja (60 n.o., 76b, 6x4, 2x6) kept the scoreboard ticking with six fours and two sixes along with Umesh Yadav (25 n.o., 10b, 1x4, 3x6) who went berserk towards the end, smashing two sixes off Ebadat.
Jayed registered his career-best figures of 4 for 108.
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