Kuldeep takes four; India dominate proceedings
India asserted their dominance in the first Test with a clinical performance with the ball that saw them snap up eight wickets after racking up 404 with the bat, with Kuldeep Yadav playing a pivotal part in both suits.
The visitors were dominant with pace and spin alike, giving Bangladesh no respite whatsoever on a pitch that was showing a tendency to keep low, as well as taking turn. The tone was set by Mohammad Siraj who struck with the first ball of the innings having Najmul Hossain Shanto poking out and caught behind for a golden duck. This was soon followed by Yasir Ali getting a bottom edge off Umesh Yadav leaving Bangladesh precariously poised before the Tea interval.
Litton Das threatened to counterattack, even striking three successive fours off Umesh Yadav, but after engaging in a verbal tussle with Siraj, he too fell chopping on. Siraj then had debutant Zakir Hasan nicking behind to leave Bangladesh tottering at 56/4.
Things only took a turn for the worse thereafter once Kuldeep was introduced into the attack. The wristspinner struck off his second ball, beating Shakib Al Hasan in flight and having him caught at slip. And after spinning a web around Nurul Hasan, he had him caught with Subman Gill taking a top-class catch at short leg. In his next over, Kuldeep dealt the knockout blow when he had the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim playing around a full ball, trapping him LBW. And to put the cherry on top, he also had Taijul Islam chopping on a wrong'un in the same over. His four-fer only enhanced what had already been a good day out for him.
Earlier, R Ashwin and Kuldeep were India's unlikely stars with the bat on the second day at Chattogram as India finished with 404 despite losing a well-set Shreyas Iyer early for 86. India's pacers reinforced their position of strength with a couple of early strikes with the ball.
Bangladesh, whose spinners had ended the first day well, with two wickets in the last five overs started with a different attacking ploy. The main enforcer was pacer Ebadot Hossain who went after the well-set Shreyas and newcomer R Ashwin with short balls.
He first had a review for LBW against Ashwin turned down, before seeing the short ball ploy nearly coming off. Shreyas, after adding three to his overnight score of 82, was enticed into a hook that went down to fine leg. But Litton Das, running across to his left, spilled the chance. However, Ebadot's disappointment was short-lived. Soon after, he slipped in a length ball as a change-up and saw Iyer's feet stuck deep in the crease. The offstump was sent cartwheeling, and India still seven short of the 300-run mark, were in danger of being bowled out swiftly.
The next man in - Kuldeep - survived a caught behind review on 0 after the ball grazed his pad and proceeded to provide some resistance alongside Ashwin. The latter, with calculated chances, ensured that India went past the 300-mark. He chipped down the track to loft Mehidy Hasan over long on for six and also clipped boundaries off his hips against the pacers to add useful runs for India.
Kuldeep, who got off the mark only on the 19th ball he faced, also chipped in with boundaries - a pull and then a reverse sweep - as India marched on. The stand grew in strength after the Lunch break as well, with Ashwin hitting another six and getting to his 13th Test fifty.
The 92-run stand between the duo also took India close to the 400-mark. And even as both fell in successive overs - Ashwin stumped off Mehidy and Kuldeep LBW against Taijul - India managed to get past 400 with Umesh Yadav slogging a couple of sixes.
Brief scores: India 404 (Cheteshwar Pujara 90, Shreyas Iyer 86, R Ashwin 58; Taijul Islam 4-133, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 4-113) lead Bangladesh 133/8 (Mushfiqur Rahim 28; Kuldeep Yadav 4-33, Mohammad Siraj 3-14) by 271 runs
Source: Cricbuzz
