India Too Good For Bangladesh
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2022-12-18 13:40:02
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
India crushed Bangladesh by 188 runs in the first Test and moved to number three in the table of Tests which increased their chances of making the finals of the Test championships. After losing the one-day series 1-2, India came back into its own in red-ball cricket and showed its class despite not having skipper Rohit Sharma and frontline bowler Jasprit Bumrah. With Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan (who played exceedingly well in the one-dayers and in fact won one game single-handedly) at the crease on the final day it was still a tall order for the hosts to save the match as they were already 6 wickets down. The Indians wrapped up the match in just 50 minutes on the final day.
On a pitch that was not easy to bat on, it was always going to be difficult for Bangladesh after India scored 404 in their first innings. Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer in the top order and then Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav lower down ensured India made a winning total after the hosts had them reeling at 48 for 3 before the 20th over was bowled. But Bangladesh could not capitalize on the breakthroughs and allowed Pujara and Iyer to consolidate after Pant's quickfire 46 off 45 balls seemed to have demoralized their bowlers.
When Bangladesh batted, Md Siraj (3 for 20) and Kuldeep Yadav (5 for 40) did not allow them to settle and with quick wickets falling, even the in-form Litton Das could not deliver. A few of their batters got starts but surrendered meekly before the pace and movement of Siraj and the guiles of Yadav. They folded for 150 but India chose to bat instead of enforcing the follow on.
In the second essay, Shubman Gill struck a wonderful century, his first and after missing the ton by just 10 runs in the first innings, Pujara also got one after waiting for four years, exorcising several ghosts. The Bangladesh bowlers were totally ineffective and India declared at 258 for 2, setting the hosts a target of 513 to win them match.
It was clear that the hosts were overwhelmed by the task at hand. While openers N Shanto (62) and Zakir Hasan batted resolutely for some time not allowing Siraj and Umesh Yadav to get on top of them, Axar Patel's triple strike once Shanto was dismissed by Umesh Yadav meant that at 272 for 6, Bangladesh had no hopes of saving the match going into the final day.
India will carry a lot of positives from this match. It bowlers performed exceedingly well, bowled in the right areas and made full use of the pitch and the conditions. Pujara performed solidly and Gill came into his own in the second innings. Pant and Iyer also played well in the first innings. Kuldeep Yadav was Player of the Match for his all-round performance (40 runs and 5 for 40 in the first innings and 3 for 73 in the second). As for the hosts, they will have to bowl in the right areas and their batters will have to show more application if they want to square the series in the second and final Test at Dhaka.
