6 min readDec 18, 2022 07:03 AM IST
First published on: Dec 17, 2022 at 05:11 PM IST
Two days before the start of the match, KL Rahul spoke about how as a team India have to keep remembering the basics and reminding themselves what has worked for them in Tests. This is India’s first Test since July and their first in sub-continental conditions since the home series against Sri Lanka in March.
Through the course of the first three days, India have largely been in their element against Bangladesh, even recovering from a slight wobble on Day 1 and posting 404 in their first innings.
Day 4 at Chattogram was different. Resuming at 42/0 after India set them a humongous 513 to win, Bangladesh didn’t collapse like they did in their first innings when they folded for 150.
The pitch, which was taking sharp turn with invariable bounce on Day 1, hasn’t undergone any drastic wear and tear that one usually sees on the last two days. If anything, it has gotten slower and batting isn’t as hard as it was on the first two days.
Usually a batting paradise, the venue is playing to its characteristics as Bangladesh, riding on a century from debutant Zakir Hasan and 67 from fellow opener Najmul Hossain Shanto, frustrated India to end Day 4 at 272/6 with Shakib Al Hasan (40) and Mehidy Hasan (9) in the middle.
That Bangladesh have taken the game into Day 5 in itself might seem like a commendable job. After an insipid display on Day 2, the Bangladesh batsmen, especially their openers, showed admirable application on a pitch where there are still plenty of runs for the taking. Perhaps India knew what was to come, which is why they rushed with their declaration on Day 3, fully aware that it wouldn’t be a walk in the park on Day 4.
The expression from the bowlers as each of the first four Bangladesh wickets fell told a story in itself. Umesh Yadav could only give a huge grin after an alert Rishabh Pant caught the rebound off Virat Kohli at first slip off Hossain’s outside edge in the 47th over. When Axar Patel bowled Yasir Ali with one that pitched on middle and spun sharply to hit the off stump, there was more relief at the sight of the turn than anything else.
After an entire wicketless session, India were beginning to get some reward. Kuldeep Yadav, fresh from a five-fer in the first innings, showed more anger than anything after outfoxing Litton Das with flight. Like each of his first-innings wickets, this had nothing to do with the pitch, instead he relied entirely on his skill. R Ashwin has taken 442 Test wickets, but when he finally found the edge of Hasan after beating it several times through the day, he jogged with his right hand aloft before jumping and pumping his fists to let off the frustration.
This was no means a pitch where one wicket would bring the fall of another. If anything, it is the sort of pitch that required India’s bowling unit to show a lot of patience and discipline. It isn’t new to them. They have come across such days frequently on home conditions where there is nothing happening for the bowlers on flat decks. While most of them have usually been in the first innings of the opposition, this was slightly different. Plus, they didn’t have Ishant Sharma here, a fast bowler who used to compliment their spinners on such days by bowling long spells and creating pressure with dot balls.
The plan for the bowling unit on such days is to stick to basics and not give the opposition any easy runs. So even in the first session which saw Bangladesh not lose a single wicket, India let them score only 77 runs at 2.57 runs per over.
“The discussion after the first session was to stay patient,” India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said at the end of Day 4. “We knew the wicket would be easy and as the game progressed we realised the pitch was getting easier to bat on. So we knew it was hard work and the focus was to hit the right areas and create those opportunities — and take those even if we create a half-chance.
“I thought we pulled it back by getting those six wickets in the next two sessions so that was good. It gives us a bit of inroad into the game and the first session tomorrow (Sunday), nothing changes. We have to be patient and bowl the right areas and wait for the opportunity. Overall happy with the way we bowled,” Mhambrey said.
Here India didn’t have Ishant to deliver the dirty job. And they had just two pacers – Mohammed Siraj and Umesh. One who is playing only his 14th Test and another who doesn’t get a game unless someone is unavailable. But both are skillful and know how to operate in such conditions. The two seamlessly adjusted to the conditions and so did the spin trio of Ashwin, Axar and Kuldeep. They cut down the bad balls, minimised those deliveries that offered width to the batsmen and made them play more. And it was Axar, who proved the most difficult to handle.
The message to Bangladesh was simple: ‘if you want to score runs, earn it.’ And to the credit of the hosts, especially the openers, they earned every run they made. The debutant Hasan especially showed a lot of grit. Having scored 173 in the second innings for Bangladesh A to deny India A an outright win in the first unofficial Test a fortnight ago, he came up with another rearguard innings that instilled some belief in the Bangladesh camp before India pulled it back.
BRIEF SCORES: India 404 and 258/2 dec vs Bangladesh 150 & 272/6 (Zakir 100, Shanto 67, Shakib 40 batting; Axar 3/50)
India's Axar Patel, center, celebrates the wicket of Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim. (AP) 
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