Before the start of the Test series against India, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe had praised at the way his side handled certain situations during their previous series against Pakistan. The same outfit, however, failed to produce anything significant despite dominating the first couple of sessions on the opening day of the match, as India gained firm control over the first Test and went on to close the second day in Chennai with a comfortable 308-run lead with seven wickets intact.
Shubman Gill (33 not out) and Rishabh Pant (12 out out) carried India to 81/3 after the home side opted to bat a second time on a day where 17 wickets fell at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here. Jasprit Bumrah’s four-wicket haul led a clinical bowling performance from India as they bowled Bangladesh out for only 149 after folding for 376 earlier in the day.
Even though India’s pacers operated in considerably less assisting conditions, the trio of Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep shared eight wickets between them while Ravindra Jadeja picked the remaining two to bundle the visitors in mere 47 overs after Bangladesh ended India’s first essay with the addition of just 37 runs to their overnight total earlier in the morning session.
The tourists were rocked by Bumrah in the very first over when he packed Shadman Islam for 2. Akash Deep then scalped two in consecutive deliveries to reduce Bangladesh to 22/3. The Bengal seamer first cleaned up Zakir Hasan, knocking off the middle stump, and then removed Mominul Haque.
Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (20) and Mushfiqur Rahim (8) somehow managed to take the team to 26/3 at the lunch break. But there was no end to the misery for the Bangladesh camp as the Indian seamers continued to dictate proceedings in the second session with Siraj joining the list of wicket-takers when he got rid of Shanto before Bumrah jolted them with the scalp of Mushfiqur to reduce the visitors to 40 for 5.
Litton Das (22) and Shakib Al Hasan (32) did a bit of rebuilding but the partnership was broken by Ravindra Jadeja. He first removed Litton, caught in the deep by substitute fielder Dhruv Jurel, and then got rid of Shakib caught behind by Pant. At the stroke of tea, Rohit reintroduced Bumrah, who delivered by removing Hasan Mahmud to leave Bangladesh reeling at 112/8 at the break.
The final session saw Bumrah and Siraj combine to wrap the Bangladesh tail. Taskin Ahmed was Bumrah’s fourth victim, while Siraj cleaned up Nahid Rana to hand India a comfortable 227-run first innings lead.
India began their second innings on a sluggish note, with Taskin Ahmed getting rid of skipper Rohit Sharma cheaply before Nahid Rana packed first innings half-centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal for 10. Virat Kohli too failed to create an impact like the previous innings and was trapped leg before by off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 17. He, however, could have taken a review as UltraEdge showed a spike when the ball passed close to the bat. Thereafter, Shubman Gill and Pant joined forces to safely guide India till the close of play.
Earlier, in the morning session, Taskin executed the plans perfectly for the tourists as he ran through the Indian tail. The seamer scalped three wickets, which included the wickets of the overnight pair of Jadeja and R Ashwin after the duo had put on 199 runs for the seventh wicket to help India avert a disaster after being 144 for 6 at one stage on Day 1.
Friday’s action started with Taskin packing Jadeja on 86 to end Bangladesh’s frustration. The pacer then got rid of Akash Deep on 17(30), who hit four boundaries during his stay in the middle. Ashwin was the third batter to be dismissed, who walked out to a standing ovation, for his valuable 113-run contribution. Hasan Mahmud, who tormented the Indian batters with four wickets on the opening day, then completed the formalities and packed Bumrah for 7(9), which also helped him bag Bangladesh’s first ever five-wicket haul against India.
Brief Scores: India 376 (R Ashwin 113, Ravindra Jadeja 86, Yashasvi Jaiswal 56; Hasan Mahmud 5-83, Taskin Ahmed 3-55) & 81/3 (Shubman Gill 33 not out; Nahid Rana 1-12) lead Bangladesh 149 (Shakib Al Hasan 32, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 27 not out; Jasprit Bumrah 4-50, Ravindra Jadeja 2-19, Akash Deep 2-19) by 308 runs.