HYDERABAD, (DNA): Almost 17 years since they started playing Test cricket, it’s fair to say that Bangladesh are not yet the finished product in the format despite their ascendancy in limited-overs cricket in the last few years.
And it was evident yet again on the first day of the one-off Test against India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday (February 9) when their waywardness in the field cost them as India went into Lunch in 86 for 1.
Was it a case of succumbing to pressure in their first ever Test match in India? They began well though, after having lost the toss, as Taskin Ahmed shattered KL Rahul’s stumps in the very first over.
It was a very poor shot from the opener who tried to drive a full-length delivery that was bowled well outside the offstump. The ball shaped away a touch and found the inside edge of the bat to disturb the woodwork.
Both seamers found some assistance with the new ball on a surface that had a bit of grass on it. Kamrul Islam Rabbi with his slinging action extracted plenty of bounce to cause some discomfort early on. The first boundary finally came off Rabbi in the sixth over when Pujara hit one past gully.
He then created the first real chance that the visitors should have made use of when Pujara edged one behind that fell just short of the first slip fielder. The replays though indicated that Mushfiqur Rahim could have gone for the catch, diving to his right.
With the pressure building up, Bangladesh probably missed having a third seamer in their attack that they had to rely on the part-time option of Soumya Sarkar in as early as the 11th over.
Pujara made use of the opportunity to drive one confidently between midwicket and mid-on. Vijay then pulled Rabbi for a couple of boundaries before the drinks break as India’s run rate slowly started climbing.
It was clearly evident that Bangladesh needed some homework on slip catching. After messing up a chance few overs before, young offspinner Mehedi Hasan created two in his second over but on both occasions, the ball went just wide of the fielder at first slip.
Had Shakib Al Hasan positioned himself better at least after the first opportunity, Bangladesh might have given themselves a decent chance to fetch the second.
But three overs later, Vijay and Pujara provided them the biggest chance of the session which they failed to make use of. After nudging the ball to the leg side, Vijay initially set off for a quick single but was stranded in the middle while watching the ball.
By this time, Pujara had almost reached the other end and Vijay was caught in two minds before finally deciding to reach the non-striker’s end. What should have been easy run out chance was bottled by the visitors as Mehedi failed to collect the throw cleanly with Vijay well short of his crease. Replays suggested that the ball might have crashed into the stumps had he not attempted to collect it front of them.
The batsmen who had added more than fifty for the second wicket by this time, had redeemed themselves following those chances and steered India to safety after an 84-run stand.
The tale might have been completely different though with a bit of luck and better judgement. The second session now promises plenty of runs with the surface not aiding spin at the moment.
Earlier, Virat Kohli, the India captain, won the toss and put to rest the speculations as Ajinkya Rahane was picked ahead of Karun Nair. He became the fourth player to miss out on a Test after scoring a triple century in the last game.
Brief scores: India 86/1 (Murali Vijay 45*, Cheteshwar Pujara 39*; Taskin Ahmed 1-17) vs Bangladesh.
