After Ajinkya Rahane spilled as many catches at slip, Ravichandran Ashwin was denied wickets on as many as three occasions. He took matters into his own, however, knocking off the poles as India struck back to dismiss Bangladesh cheaply. However, it was Mohammed Shami who struck with a double blow as Bangladesh lost two in two, going into tea at 140 for 7 on the opening day of the Indore Test.
Shami was brought back into the attack due to a hint of reverse swing that Ishant Sharma was able to extract at the brink of tea. Ishant beautifully bowled throughout the day, with excellent lines and varying lengths to annoy the batsmen. Shami answered the call of his captain straight away to get Mushfiqur Rahim’s big wicket first, knocking him over one swinging in, and backed it up with Mehedy Hasan’s golden duck. Shami will have a shot at a Test hat-trick when resumes.
In the second over, Ashwin would have had Mushfiqur had Rahane held on to a sharp chance that came to him at an uncomfortable height. Having been let off by Virat Kohli earlier, the batsman was given his second relief. He was one part of the half-century stand, which, along with skipper Mominul Haque, helped Bangladesh recover from the early morning wicket losses.
Meanwhile, Rahim danced down the track to dispatch the offspinner over his head for a six. He was cutting and driving and keeping India at bay while Mahmudullah was struggling to pick Ashwin at the other end. In a prolonged spell in the session, Ashwin was rewarded for his accuracy, and consistent lines and lengths, but it was the extra bounce he extracted that brought him wickets.
After opting to bat on a wicket laden with moisture in the morning, Bangladesh missed a trick. Umesh Yadav, who started his spell with beauty for the nth time, beat the outer edge to have Imrul Kayes edging in the sixth over to Ajinkya Rahane at gully.
With Shadman Islam’s lack of foot movement to a complete delivery catching the edge, Saha was able to pocket the ball as Bangladesh fell to 12 for 2 in the next. The bowlers were then negotiated by Mohammad Mithun and Mominul, captaining in his first Test. Notwithstanding the misses, prods and measuring lines, the pair succeeded in keeping the wickets intact. Nonetheless, Mominul showed a lot of restraint and held his end well, even getting some streaky boundaries off the edges which spurred Bangladesh after a slothful morning past the 50-run mark.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 140/7 (Mushfiqur Rahim 43, Mominul Haque 37; Mohammed Shami 3-27, R Ashwin 2-43) vs India.
