Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav picked a five-for (5/40) as India bowled out Bangladesh for 150 in their first innings, taking a massive 254-run lead on Day 3 of the first Test, here on Friday.
After wrapping up Bangladesh’s innings within 45 minutes of day three, India chose not to enforce the follow-on and decided to bat again, which became evident when captain KL Rahul started sprinting back once Bangladesh’s last wicket fell.
Resuming from 133/8, Ebadot Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz hit a boundary each off Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav. India had a breakthrough in Kuldeep’s next over when he got one to spin past Ebadot’s flick and took the faint edge behind to Rishabh Pant, who completed a sharp catch down the leg.
Ebadot’s dismissal gave Kuldeep his third five-wicket haul in Test cricket and made him the first Indian bowler to take a fifer at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. Seven overs later, Mehidy was stumped by Pant off Axar Patel to end Bangladesh’s innings, where only two batters — Mehidy and Mushfiqur Rahim — were able to bat for more than 50 deliveries.
Earlier on Thursday, Mohammed Siraj grabbed three wickets with the new ball – including taking out Najmul Hossain Shanto on the first delivery of the Bangladesh innings, to run through the top-order.
Kuldeep then took over with his pace, flight, and turn to spin a web around the Bangladesh batters. On his second delivery of the match, he had captain Shakib Al Hasan caught at first slip, followed by having Nurul Hasan caught at short-leg.
He had two more scalps on day two — trapping Rahim plumb lbw and cramping Taijul Islam for a room with a googly, forcing him to chop onto his stumps. Now with Bangladesh out for 150, the ball is sharply turning and some good bounce is available for the fast bowlers, India would want Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli to get solid runs after falling cheaply in the first innings.
Brief Scores:
India 404 in 133.5 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 90, Shreyas Iyer 86; Taijul Islam 4/133, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 4/112) lead Bangladesh 150 all out in 55.5 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 28, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 25; Kuldeep Yadav 5/40, Mohammed Siraj 3/20) by 254 runs
