DHAKA
\nShreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin held firm as India beat Bangladesh in a thrilling second Test on Sunday, dashing hopes in Dhaka of a first-ever win over their giant neighbours.
\nIndia needed just 145 to win the match and the series 2-0 but the visitors in the end won by only three wickets in a nail-biting morning\u2019s play on day four in Dhaka.
\nBangladesh overcame India in the preceding 50-over series but have never beaten them in a Test. India had won 10 of the teams\u2019 previous 12 Tests, including five victories by an innings.
\nIndia won the first Test comfortably by 188 runs in Chittagong and were widely expected to romp home in the second game, cementing their position in second place in the ICC World Test Championship.
\nIndia bowled Bangladesh out on Saturday for a sub-par 231 but the home side\u2019s spinners Mehidy Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan then reduced the visitors to 45-4 at stumps with 100 still to chase.
\nShakib started the slide with the wicket of captain KL Rahul for two and then Mehidy claimed Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli — all for single-digit scores.
\nBangladesh then reduced India to 74-7 when play resumed on Sunday but Shreyas (29 not out) and Ashwin (42 not out) put on 71 runs in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand to steer India home.
\nMehidy was the stand-out bowler for Bangladesh in the second innings, finishing with 5-63, which included two wickets in the morning.
\nBangladesh dominated play in the opening hour as Shakib dismissed nightwatchman Jaydev Unadkat, who hit a six in the opening over but fell in the next after making 13.
\nMehidy then trapped danger man Rishabh Pant leg before for nine before he bowled unbeaten overnight batsman Axar Patel for 34 runs.
\nAshwin was dropped by Mominul Haque on one at forward short leg before he grew in confidence, with Iyer looking solid against spin at the other end.
\nAfter his three fours in two overs, Bangladesh were forced to finally bring pacers into the attack but to no avail.
\nAshwin — named player of the match — took India close with a six after Mehidy changed his bowling end and wrapped up the contest with two more boundaries.
\n\u201c(I\u2019m) not going to lie, there was a lot of tension in the dressing room. It was a tough wicket to bat on, they put us under pressure in both innings,\u201d said Rahul, who captained in place of injured Rohit Sharma.
\n\u201cEveryone contributed. We always knew that we had a chance… Very good Test cricket, that\u2019s what the crowds love to see,\u201d said Shakib.
\n\u201cBoth teams were really good. Credit goes to Shreyas and Ashwin, they absorbed the pressure well and built a partnership,\u201d Shakib said.
\nRock-solid Pujara was named player of the series, with the Sussex star making 222 runs in the series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DHAKA Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin held firm as India beat Bangladesh in a thrilling second Test on Sunday, dashing hopes in Dhaka of a first-ever win over their giant neighbours. India needed just 145 to win the match and the series 2-0 but the visitors in the end won by only three wickets in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-303548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n