Bowlers blow away Bangla

Appearing in his first Test as the captain of Bangladesh, Mominul Haque took a major gamble after calling the coin right. On a pitch with a good smattering of grass and pre-winter conditions, tailor-made for pace bowling, Mominul made the bold decision to bat first. Sadly, it backfired badly as the red-hot Indian bowlers ran roughshod over them, handing hosts the total command of the first Test here on Thursday.

Pacers Ishant Sharma (2/20), Umesh Yadav (2/47) and Mohammed Shami (3/27) fired in unison for an umpteenth time while off-spinner R Ashwin (2/43), who surpassed 250 Test scalps on home turf, was his usual exceptional self. Their all-round brilliance was just too much for the inexperienced Bangladesh batting to handle, the Tigers bowled out for 150 in 58.3 overs at the Holkar Stadium.

Mayank Agarwal (37 batting, 81b, 6x4) and Cheteshwar Pujara (43 batting, 61b, 7x4) then got the job done with the bat with minimum fuss, mixing caution with aggression to a nicety to take India to stumps at 86/1 in 26 overs.

Ishant, returning to the playing XI after being benched for the third Test against South Africa in Ranchi, and Umesh were right on the money from the word go. Although both had troubles with their follow-throughs and earned a warning each, they tormented the Bangladeshi openers Shadman Islam and Imrul Kayes with pace, bounce and movement. Balls kept whizzing past the outside edge repeatedly as both the batsmen struggled to put bat to ball most of the times.

A wicket was always around the corner and Umesh was the first to get onboard when he induced a thick edge off Kayes. In the very next over Ishant got his reward when Shadman edged into the hands of wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Shami, coming as first change bowler, also meant business from his very first ball and he too got into the act when he trapped Mohammed Mithun leg-before wicket to leave Bangladesh in a spot of bother at 31/3.

Mominul and seasoned Mushfiqur Rahim then forged a fightback for the fourth wicket, making most of the good fortune that came their way as the Indians fielded like benevolent landlords at slip. Skipper Virat Kohli dropped a sitter while Ajinkya Rahane, normally an exceptional fielder at slips for spinners, grassed two efforts off Ashwin. It was the only passage of play where the Indians lacked a bit in intensity.

Ashwin, bamboozling the Bangladeshis with his side and under spins and balls turning both ways, then took it upon himself to break the Mushfiqur-Mominul stand. Mominul chose to leave the ball alone only to see his off-stump rattled. Mahmudullah, all at sea against Ashwin, then tried to slog-sweep the offie, the ball crashing onto his stumps as Bangladesh were left tottering at 115/5.

Shami then hastened the end with a sizzling over at the stroke of tea. After getting the ball to move away constantly from Mushfiqur, he moved wide of the crease and delivered a ripping in-swinger. A befuddled Mushfiqur (43) could only watch in horror as the ball crashed through his defences and rattled the timber. Shami then unleashed another deadly in-swinger very next ball, packing off Mehidy Hasan as Bangladesh took tea at 140/7.

Wagging tail has often caused problems for India but Thursday was not that day. Ishant dispatched free-stroking Liton Das right after the break while Taijul Islam chanced himself against Ravindra Jadeja’s arm and fell victim to it. Umesh then castled a clueless Ebadat Hossain to close out the Bangladesh innings.

Bangladesh needed an exceptional bowling performance to make some early inroads and while Abu Jayed shone in parts, Ebadat Hossain and Taijul Islam struggled for consistency as Agarwal and Pujara batted with authority. With the visitors playing just four genuine bowlers, the Indians will be looking to bat them out of the contest on Friday.