India take 227-run advantage in first innings, but does not enforce follow-on

After three quarters of an hour, the final two wickets for Bangladesh were not nearly enough to trouble India, who decided not to pursue a follow-on even though they led by 227 runs after just 47.1 overs of play.

Although Jasprit Bumrah was on the verge of a five-for, Mohammed Siraj, his new partner with the ball, took the final wicket. In the final session, Taskin Ahmed appeared at ease as the two started searching for the advantage. But after Taskin struck him for a four, Bumrah used short balls to soften him up, striking him in the glove and on the helmet before finishing him off with a precise yorker.

Even though the tall Nahid Rana wasn’t really interested in getting behind Bumrah’s line, he still managed to deny him the wicket by hitting him for two boundaries. Siraj eventually gave up his second wicket when Rana played him on as he laboured at one. On the second day, India had over an hour and a half to bat before stumps.

Tea: Bangladesh got out of the frying pan quickly, taking four wickets to put India out of the game early, but then they were hit hard by the Indian bowlers’ constant pressure, which saw them down to 112 for 8 by teatime. There was no reprieve for the batsmen, despite the fact that India bowled in circumstances that were far less favourable than on day one. While help was still available, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, and Mohammed Siraj each claimed five wickets before the spinners trapped the hitters for two more runs before tea.

Bangladesh began the day on a bright note. Hasan Mahmud finished Bangladesh’s first five-for in India, Taskin Ahmed took three wickets with the second new ball, and the team allowed India to score just 37 runs throughout the course of the day. But then there was a swift reminder that their bowlers had already made too many mistakes. India’s quick bowlers were spot on right away, reducing Bangladesh to 40 for 5 with demanding spells either side of lunch and a mistake every three balls.

Bumrah regularly sent the ball away from the left-hand openers across the wicket, but he circled for the final delivery. Shadman Islam abandoned him, most likely due to the previous five balls having moved out of the pitch, but this one pitched and came back in to hit the top of the off. Both the umpire and the India captain miscalled a leg-before-bow call that Zakir Hasan survived, but Akash was too good for both Mominul Haque and him.

Akash bowled poorly in his opening over, which was right around the wicket; but, in his second over, he got the ball to seam in from a nice length just outside off. Haque was able to get his pad in position, but the ball bounced into the wicket, leaving Zakir absolutely defeated. In either case, he would have been lbw. The hat-trick ball was pushed into the gully by Mushfiqur Rahim, but it missed.

India returned to their two best bowlers after lunch, who had only bowled brief stints prior to the break.

The most precise of the three was Siraj, who had earlier missed out on Zakir’s wicket. As a wobble-seam ball sailed away from him, Najmul Hossain attempted to walk at him in an attempt to counter the movement, but he was only able to make it to second slip.

Before Mushfiqur bowled a rare delivery that swung after pitching, Bumrah continued to test him. You can’t intentionally do that, but occasionally the ball will start to swing after it has passed the batter, usually when the seam is upright. This one began to move even before it passed Mushfiqur, who would have normally covered the angle. At the last second, it took the edge, swerved away from KL Rahul, and rapidly went to second slip. Rahul’s hands were soft, indicating that he had made the catch, and his upper body turned with the ball.

As the movement started to slow down, Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan quickly put together a 51-man stand. The driving was impressive to witness, and when the Indian spin twins entered the game, they offered minimal support from the pitch but still gave nothing away. Litton played a more squarer slog-sweep than he would have liked, offering a catch to deep square leg in an attempt to dominate them. Unfortunately, Shakib reverse-swept Jadeja right into his boot, whereupon he lobbed the ball to Rishabh Pant.

Also Read: WATCH: Akash Deep’s two strikes in two balls to rattle Mominul Haque and Zakir Hasan’s stumps

India revived the danger of Siraj and Bumrah before tea. Siraj grabbed the edge right away, but it didn’t carry. However, Bumrah defeated Mahmud with what turned out to be the final ball before tea. Bangladesh was still 65 points away from missing the continuation.