World Chess champions Magnus Carlsen and five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand rung the customary Eden bell to kickstart the proceedings of the second day of India’s first-ever pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Anand and Norweigan Carlsen are in the city to take part in the 2019 Tata Steel Chess tournament which is part of the Grand Chess Tour. Carlsen looked dapper in casual formals while Anand was wearing a suit and was his usual classy self. They were accompanied by Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) secretary Avishek Dalmiya.
After Day 1, Carlsen steered ahead of the rivals winning two and drawing one game and ended the day with five points overall as each of the rapid games are worth two points for a win and one for a draw. Anand drew with Ding Liren of China and Wesley So of the United States before going down to Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.
Day one of the historic Day-Night Test match between India and Bangladesh saw the Indian pacers running through the Bangladesh batting line-up and bundling them for a paltry total of 106 in just 30 overs.
It was only the fourth instance when the Indian cricket team witnessed such a scenario where the spinners did not take a single wicket. The last time it happened was also at the Eden Gardens when India played Sri Lanka in 2017.
Ishant Sharma was the star of the pack and returned with a figure of 5/22 to take his first fifer on home soil in 12 years.
A pumped up @ImIshant after he picks up his 5-wkt haul in the #PinkBallTest.#TeamIndia pacers have bowled out Bangladesh for 106 runs in the first innings. pic.twitter.com/Z3k0yvEwlM
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 22, 2019
Umesh Yadav, with his 3/29 including two in one over, had a major impact in the visiting team’s top-order. Mohammed Shami, the most in-form bowler of the lot, was impressive with his sharp inswingers and fast bouncers for his figure of 2/36.
Coming into bat with more than a session to play, openers Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma did not last long and were victimised by the wrath of the pink cherry.
However, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli steadied the Indian ship and scripted a 94-run partnership before the former fell to Ebadot Hossain. Ajinkya Rahane, along with his captain, made sure there was no wicket for the rest of the day.
(With inputs from IANS)