India’s left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav ran through the Bangladesh batting order with four wickets in his first six overs while pacer Mohammed Siraj scalped three wickets to leave the hosts reeling at 133/8 at stumps on day two of the first Test at Chattogram on Thursday.
Kuldeep found a proper turn and bounce with the ball to spin a web around Bangladesh batters and pick 4/33 after Siraj burst through with his 3/14 as India still lead by 271 runs. Kuldeep had earlier frustrated the hosts with a 92-run stand with Ravichandran Ashwin for the eighth wicket to take India to 404 in the first innings, and.
On a pitch that was playing some tricks sans threatening bounce, Shreyas Iyer could add only four runs to his overnight total before being castled by Ebadot Hossain for 86. despite Bangladesh dropping another catch of him. Ashwin scored 58 while Kuldeep made a career-best 40 as India managed to go past 400.
Siraj rocked Bangladesh by dismissing Najmul Hossain Shanto on the first ball of the innings, as keeper Rishabh Pant took a diving catch to his left. Umesh Yadav uprooted Yasir Ali’s leg stump when the batter’s feet didn’t move and inside-edged to his stumps.
Litton Das looked solid, picking up five boundaries off Umesh at a quick pace – the pick of which was a punch through extra cover off the full face of the bat. Just after the final session began, Siraj and Das exchanged a few words. On the very next ball, Siraj got one to jag in slightly and took the bottom edge of Das’s bat to hit the stumps.
Mushfiqur Rahim was solid in his trademark sweep and punch while debutant Zakir Hasan took three boundaries off Ashwin, with an uppish drive through extra cover being the standout. But in the next over, Zakir poked at an outside-off stump delivery and edged behind to keeper off Siraj.
Captain Shakib Al Hasan did not inspire much confidence in his 25-ball stay at the crease and was caught at first slip off Kuldeep’s second delivery of the match. Nurul Hasan showed signs of aggression with his pulls and lofts and even got a reprieve when Ashwin shelled a catch at mid-on.
Kuldeep struck when Nurul tried to flick off a leg break, but Shubman Gill moved swiftly to his right to take a sharp catch at the short leg. In his next over, Kuldeep had two more scalps – trapping Rahim plumb lbw and cramping Taijul Islam for a room with a googly, forcing him to chop onto stumps.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Ebadot Hossain hit two boundaries each in a 31-run partnership for the ninth wicket to be unbeaten on 16 and 13 respectively at the stumps. But the efforts of Kuldeep and Siraj meant a cloud of follow-on is still firmly on their head.
Earlier, India’s last four wickets added 126 runs despite Iyer falling early on day two. Ibadat peppered a barrage of short balls against Iyer, and the tactic almost worked if Das hadn’t made a meal of the catch. The pacer was rewarded for his perseverance when he beat Iyer on the outer edge and took out the off-stump.
Ashwin and Kuldeep were solid in running between the wickets while taking a boundary off pacer Khaled Ahmed through the leg side. Taijul was getting to talk the ball, and even trapped Ashwin lbw with an arm ball. Bangladesh went for a review, but to their dismay umpire’s call meant the on-field decision of not outstayed.
India had more help when a throw from the fielder hit one of the two helmets placed behind the stumps, giving the visitors five penalty runs. Ashwin, who earlier launched Mehidy for a six-over long-on, drove Taijul sweetly through extra cover.
Kuldeep, who survived a caught behind appeal on his first ball off Mehidy, reverse-swept the left-arm spinner over the backward point and then swept the off-spinner fiercely through the backward square leg.
Post lunch, Ashwin danced down the pitch to loft Taijul over mid-on for six and took a single on the very next ball to reach his 13th Test fifty. Kuldeep was timing his sweep and slog-sweep against Taijul as the partnership continued to frustrate Bangladesh.
It was finally broken when Ashwin danced down the pitch for a maximum against Mehidy, but missed the delivery and was stumped. In the next over, Kuldeep was trapped plumb lbw by Taijul.
A brace of sixes through powerful slog-sweeps from Umesh and an uppish drive from Siraj over extra cover took India past 400-mark. Mehidy ended India’s innings by having Siraj hole out too long on.
Taijul was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers, finishing with 4/133, while Mehidy took 4/112 even as their fielders shelled various catches during the innings, which could hurt them hard post a batting implosion at the end of the day.
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 133/8 in 44 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 28, Litton Das 24; Kuldeep Yadav 4/33, Mohammed Siraj 3/14) by 271 runs
