After building a 343-run lead, India bowled out Bangladesh for 213 runs in the second innings to secure a victory by an innings and 130 runs, going 1-0 up in the series with the pink-ball Test starting in Kolkata on November 22.
213 ALL OUT! Ebadot Hossain is the last batsman to be dismissed. Tries to launch Ravichandran Ashwin into the stands, but only finds Umesh Yadav at long-on, the fast bowler taking a tumbling catch to wrap up the victory for India. It's a victory by an innings and 130 runs, and achieved inside three days.
208/9 WICKET! One brings two for India! Mushfiqur Rahim, one of Bangladesh's batting mainstays, perishes, and India is now a wicket away from going 1-0 up in the series. Ashwin v Rahim has been an intriguing battle through this Test, with Ashwin having a catch dropped off his bowling in the first innings. In the second innings, Rahim looked quite secure against the Indian off-break bowler, who, however, gets the better of him. It's a clever adjustment in length as Rahim gave him the charge and he tried to loft the ball over the Cheteshwar Pujara at mid-off, but he only manages to slice it and Pujara runs back 10-15 yards and holds onto a swerving ball.
208/8 WICKET! Mohammed Shami bounces out Taijul Islam, leaving India two wickets away from victory. It's a lifter that Taijul fends at and the ball lobs up kindly for Wriddhiman Saha to hold on. Shami punches the air after taking the wicket, suggesting the frustration the Bangladesh lower-order batsmen have put India through with their resistance. Abu Jayed is the new batsman in.
196/7 WICKET! India finds the breakthrough right after tea. Umesh Yadav produces a magic delivery to get through the defence of Mehidy Hasan. The ball cuts back from around off-stump, bounces awkwardly and it crashes onto the stumps off Mehidy's back elbow as he took evasive action. Left-arm orthodox spinner Taijul Islam has joined Mushfiqur Rahim in the middle with India three wickets away.
191/6 TEA! Mehidy Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim keep India waiting to wrap up the match. It's been a good partnership since Liton Das's dismissal, and Bangladesh now trails India by 152 runs. Mehidy, in particular, has given the Indian bowlers food for thought with his proactive batting, while Mushfiqur has looked solid. The old ball hasn't caused as much trouble to the Bangladesh batsmen, who, however, still have plenty of work to do to make India bat again.
167/6 This is, in ways, edge-of-the-seat stuff! Ravichandran Ashwin's putting up an exhibition in off-spin bowling, bamboozling Mehidy Hasan and Mishfiqur Rahim with his flight, drift, turn, bounce, and clever change in the angle of his deliveries. He's mixing up his sliders and stock deliveries to keep the Bangladesh batsmen in check, some of them finding the edge and some going past it, but so far, the wickets of either of these batsmen has been elusive. Ravindra Jadeja has bowled with better control in the last couple of overs, and Mehidy and Rahim aren't entirely comfortable albeit they are giving India food for thought with their proactive batting. And we have a change in bowling. Umesh Yadav has replaced Jadeja.
135/6 WICKET! Liton Das is caught and bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin. It was an entertaining phase of play, but India can now start to smell victory. Liton struck the ball well but Ashwin completes a reflex catch to send back the Bangladesh wicketkeeper for 35. Mehidy Hasan has joined Mushfiqur Rahim.
125/5 A flurry of boundaries since Mahmudullah's dismissal. Nothing to the extent that will worry India, but the introduction of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin has opened the floodgates for the Bangladesh batting pair of Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim, who are eminently comfortable against spin compared to pace. This should be an interesting phase of play, seeing whether Liton and Rahim continue to attack the Indian spinners and if they do, will Virat Kohli switch his bowlers around.
100/5 Bangladesh reaches three figures in the second innings. And the scoring rate has increased since the fall of the wicket. Six boundaries have come, four off Liton's bat and two off Mushfiqur's. It still trails India by 243 runs.
72/5 WICKET! Edged and gone. Mahmudullah plays away from the body against a ball in the channel, Mohammed Shami finds the edge and this time Rohit Sharma doesn't make a mistake at second slip. (The slip catching practice before the post-lunch session has seemingly helped.) Mahmudullah is out for 15, bringing Liton Das to the middle.
60/4 The players are back out for the post-lunch session. India players, including captain Virat Kohli, were involved in slip catching practice 10 minutes before the resumption in play, indicating their keenness to address the dropped catches in this particular Test. Mohammed Shami will bowl the first over with three slips and a gully in place.
Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya, our reporter at the venue, shares his thoughts from the first session: "Mushfiqur-Mahmudullah pair survived the first session. Still no spinners in action, the pacers are doing the talking at the moment. Sixty runs in 22 over but the visitor lost four wickets. Shami, the second innings beast, got rid of Mominul Haque who had started with a classy boundary off Yadav. The local authorities have started packing up and a few journalists are planning explore Indore for the next two days. We hear the cricketers are likely to use the two additional days for pink ball practice."
60/4 LUNCH on Day 3! We have had only 22 overs in the session, but it's been a very watchable period of play with the Indian bowlers perhaps at their very best. It's been a struggle for the Bangladeshi batsmen, whose technique against the moving ball has been poor and the failure to learn from their first-innings dismissals has left the team on the brink of a defeat inside three days. Mushfiqur Rahim has had another life in this Test, having been put down by Rohit Sharma off the bowling of Mohammed Shami, who has, coming in as the first-change bowler, been by some distance the most threatening of the three Indian pacers. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have a wicket apiece. Join us at 12:10pm for the second session.
Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya, our reporter at the venue, says: "All that Bangladesh can do now is bat for some pride. Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur is the last recognised pair, but the former is a shaky starter in Test cricket. He averages close to 33 but in 46 Tests, he has scored only four hundreds in a decade-long career. The only two overseas hundreds he has scored is in New Zealand - one in 2010 and the other in 2019. Big gap! Oh! Mushfiqur dropped by Rohit. He is truly becoming immortal with four lives in this Test match."
48/4 It could so easily have been 48 for five! Mohammed Shami bowls one in the channel outside off-stump and Mushfiqu Rahim goes for an on-the-up drive through the covers. He doesn't cover the line and gets a thick outside edge. The ball travels at a nice height to Rohit Sharma at second slip. He's in a good position and gets his hands to the ball, but it goes to ground. India's poor slip catching in the Test continues. Mushfiqur, who had a couple of lives in the first innings, gets another.
44/4 It's going from bad to worse, quick, for Bangladesh! Mohammed Shami tempts Mohammad Mithun into a false shot and India has its fourth wickets. It's a lifter from back of a length, hurries onto Mithun, who tries to pull it over the fielder at midwicket, and the ball comes off the splice of the bat and Mayank Agarwal, at midwicket, barely had to move to complete the catch. Bangladesh four down, brings Mahmudullah to the crease to join Mushfiqur Rahim.
37/3 Mohammed Shami needs only five deliveries for his first wicket in the second innings. From around the wicket, he gets the ball to pitch on middle and straighten. Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque looks to whip it through the midwicket region, misses the ball completely and is hit on the kneeroll of his front pad. The umpire Rod Tucker initially rules him not out, Shami convinced captain Virat Kohli to review. The ball tracker shows the ball to be going on and hitting the leg stump. Three reds, and Bangladesh is three down.
33/2 in 12 overs Mominul and Mithun come through unscathed to the drinks break against the relentless Umesh and Ishant, who have bowled six overs each so far. The overrate has been slow from India having bowled just 12 in over an hour.
16/2, 7 overs Ishant Sharma breaches Sharman Islam's defence and the second wicket falls for Bangladesh. Comes around the wicket, bowls a length ball and Shadman is late to get his bat down to the swing. The balls slips through and gets the top of the middle and leg stump. Both openers have gone early.
10/1, 5.1 overs Umesh Yadav makes the early beakthough and Bangladesh loses its first wicket . The pacer gets the line and length right on this one and the leg-stump comes off. Beautiful ball. Kayes went for a drive, gets an inside edge and he walks back.
9/0, 4 overs Shadman and Imrul begin cautiously as the ball is showing signs of movement. Umesh Yadav and Ishant, the opening bowling pair for India, are getting some support from the pitch so far.
Imrul found the gap wide of cover for a boundary on the fourth ball of Umesh's first over of the day, and that has been the only bit of attacking play from the Bangladesh batsmen in the opening overs.
0/0, 0.1 overs The lanky pacer begins the day with a good length ball which is moving away and Shadman lets it go.
Right, here we go. Shadman Islam Imrul and Kayes are the openers for Bangladesh, with the former on strike. Ishant Sharma will bowl the first over.
India has declared its innings. Considering how well the Indian powers, especially the pacers, did on this pitch on day one, Bangladesh could have a tough task as the early morning conditions could favour the bowlers.
* “I think the selectors did a decent job and the team did not have a bad performance in the World Cup, it is just one-and-a-half hour of poor batting in the semifinals. But I think the selectors could have handled the No. 4 position in a better way.”
Former BCCI selector Sanjay Jagdale feels the M.S.K. Prasad-led selection committee should have backed Rahane as No. 4 for the World Cup .
* Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo admits that the structure of his side needs to change to shine in the two-match Test series against India. On a green and bouncy wicket here, tIndia have declared overnight. he visitor chose not to play a third seamer which is proving suicidal in their maiden World Test Championship campaign.
Mayank Agarwal, fearless and run-obsessed
Mayank Agarwal has been around for a while. He made his IPL debut at 19, but the ascension started as soon as he started dominating bowlers in domestic cricket. The right-hander had to wait for a long time before the India cap came calling.
It is true that he should have broken into the Indian side right after ruling the run charts in the 2017-18 season for Karnataka. Mayank had finished with 2,169 runs in 32 innings in that timeline. The chance came almost after 11 months, in Australia, when the openers’ struggle Down Under called for an immediate medicine.
In the first Test against Bangladesh here, the 28-year-old scored his second international double ton (243) — just a month after registering his maiden double against South Africa in October. He has made up for the lost time.
When you talk to him about his game, you see aggression in his eyes and the hunger to remain consistent. He barely makes a mistake in shot selection and is obsessed with scoring runs. He could have been out for 32 had Imrul Kayes not dropped him on day one.
“If I have a chance, I will make them pay. I am an aggressive batsman and I back myself if I feel the ball is in my half. If I think I can attack a bowler, definitely I will,” he keeps it straight.
Fearless and attacking
Mayank believes in his shot-making capabilities. And that’s why he doesn’t hesitate to for a maximum even when batting on 196. “It depends on who you want to attack and picking the right ball. You can’t hit every ball. It is not going to happen that way but understanding the situation, and understanding the bowler and the balls [is important]. You pick those balls and you should have the mental discipline to wait for those balls.”
Karnataka stalwart R. Vinay Kumar has a role in changing Mayank’s vision. The batsman was left dazed and confused after a pair against Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy two years ago.
“But after the two ducks, I knew nothing could be worse for a batsman. The game had to go only upward from there. I was fortunate to have Vinay by my side. He told me, ‘Mayank, you are not going to get runs in every game. There will be bad days, but whenever you sense you are having a good day, you should make it big,”’ he had told this publication in an interview. The string of scores that followed read 304*, 176, 23, 90, 133*, 173, 134.
The batting had turned interstellar, and the hunger is intact. “There have been times when I have not got runs, I must respect the game. I want to put the team in such a position that we cannot lose from here. When you got a a hundred, it is on you to take the team through.
“At 196, I thought I will give myself four to five overs and I will look to play in ones unless I get something in my half. I picked a couple of strokes and I thought if it comes in this area, I will play my shots; it just happened that I got the ball in my half,” he summed up his gargantuan knock, which is also his highest score in Test cricket now.
Learning from mistakes
Bangladesh off-spinner Mehidy Hasan came close to dismissing him on 82 but the ball was stuck high on the pad. Mayank aimed for a sweep in a half-bent position, but umpire Marais Erasmus had raised his finger that was later overturned by a review.
But the original decision shook the batsman up. Shocked and in disbelief, he stared at the umpire for a while before Ajinkya Rahane approved the review call.
“When I thought it hit on the pad, I wasn’t out. When I was given out, I had a quick flashback as I had got out the same way to Roston Chase in West Indies. I was glad and happy that it was missing. I couldn’t have make the same mistake,” he said.
But he doesn’t go through his batting videos to study the marathon knocks. The correction is all stored in the head. Meditation helps him and PUBG — an online multiplayer game — is a new addition.
“I see inspiration everywhere in the dressing room. Everyone has big scores. There are stalwarts to my left and right and I can go up to anybody.” And when back in the hotel room after a good knock? “Mayank plays PUBG.”
* 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. Click here to read the day two report.
At stumps on day two, India took control of the Test. It was a one-sided contest as Bangladesh's bowling was plundered with India finishing the day seven runs short of 500, for the loss of 6 wickets. Particularly, it is Mayank Agarwal's day. He toyed with Bangladesh's bowling, and exploded after getting to a double-century. Ajinkya Rahane missed out on a century, and Cheteshwar Pujara and later, Ravindra Jadeja, hit half-centuries, too. Here are all the highlights of yesterday's action.
Day One: India ended at 86/1, after restricting Bangladesh to 150 in the first innings. India's trio of pacers — along with Ashwin — were absolutely sensational as they blew away the Bangladesh bastmen one by one. Mominul made the right call for the toss, won it but made a horrible decision (in hindsight) to bat first.
The host finished is 64 runs behind, with Rohit Sharma out for 6. Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara dominated the proceedings and will look to give India the lead when they walk out today. Click here to read the full day one report.
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