Having done all the hard work on Day 4, India needed just 48 minutes on Sunday to remove the remaining four Bangladesh wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series. The second match beginning in Mirpur on Thursday will not be a cakewalk, especially given the hosts’ recent track record at the venue, and how it remains one of the most challenging venues in Bangladesh thanks to its slowness and the amount of turn it takes.
All said and done, as India head to Mirpur again — a venue where they lost two ODIs on the trot earlier on the tour – they will be riding high on confidence. And although it remains a long shot, stand-in captain KL Rahul revealed that a call on skipper Rohit Sharma’s availability will be known in a couple of days.
For the time being, their team masseurs would be the busiest on Sunday as they all gather together to watch the Argentina vs France World Cup final. The bowling group would definitely have a few of them whose shoulders badly need a massage having sent 113.2 overs in the fourth innings. For a team that has mostly played only whiteball cricket in recent memory, this win would feel a bit special, even if one leaves out the opposition as it came after a slight wobble on the first morning and the way they bounced back with bat and ball. Test cricket is all about seizing those big moments, and even though it must be in muscle memory for the players, to get across the line would indeed be special, especially since they are playing their first Test since July.
The victory margin of 188 runs is huge, but it won’t tell how much India had to fight for it, especially on Day 4 when the pitch had flattened out. “That is Test cricket,” responded Rahul to a question as to how India had to be patient in getting the 10 Bangladesh wickets in the second innings. “You are never going to get a victory that’s going to be easy. We know that. We have played enough Test cricket to understand that there will be phases where the opposition also plays well. We need to respect that, and keep doing our job. I am very proud of that. Throughout the Test match our energy and intensity has been really high, and we have maintained it throughout the day.
Throughout the last five days we have shown great commitment towards the team. We haven’t played Test cricket in a while, so there was some worry coming into the Test match about how the bodies would react and how we would be able to manage being on the park for so long, and maintain our focus and intensity. We did that really well, and that is pleasing,” Rahul added.
In terms of takeaways, especially with regards to India’s prospects of making it to the World Test Championship, the performances of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Shubman Gill would be pleasing to the team management. While Kuldeep’s spell in the first innings helped India to bowl Bangladesh out in 55.5 overs, the aggression shown by the batting unit in the second innings, especially by Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara proved crucial as it allowed them ample time to take 10 wickets.
“It gave us a lot of time in the Test,” Rahul said about Kuldeep’s five-for in the first innings. “If Bangladesh went on to make 300-350, this game would have headed for a draw. Yes, we would have tried making a game out of it and giving a chance for ourselves, but that would have become very hard. Once you bowl a team out for 150, it gives you a lot of time to bat another 50-60 overs, score some quick runs and put them to bat again for two days or something and that gave our bowlers to get them out,” Rahul said.
One performance that would slip under the radar is that of Axar’s. As Taijul Islam became Axar’s fourth victim in the innings, it took him past teammate R Ashwin for the most wickets by an Indian in the first seven Tests. The all-rounder now has 44 at an average of 13 and picks up a wicket every 35.3 overs. This was his first Test away from India, but given this was still conditions similar to what he gets back home, he ensured the team didn’t miss Ravindra Jadeja. And that in itself should make Axar feel a lot at home.
Indian players celebrate Axar Patel picking a wicket during the second innings of the first Test vs Bangladesh. (BCCI/Twitter) 
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