Bangladesh v Australia, 2nd Test, Day 1, Chittagong – 5 Talking Points

With Bangladesh creating history in the by overhauling Australia for the first time in their brief Test history, it was now or never for Australia in the 2-match Test series. The focus shifted to Chittagong with the home side intending to win the series and the visitors intending to make a comeback and locking the series at 1-all.

Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and elected to bat first, as the hosts gave away wickets to Nathan Lyon. It was only after the partnership between Sabbir Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim that Bangladesh managed to look stable. At stumps on Day 1, it was even stevens for both sides with Bangladesh at 253 for the loss of six wickets and their captain unbeaten at 62. Let us look at the five talking points of the First Day of Chittagong Test.

1. Australia opening with a spinner

Before the commencement of the Second Test, there were talks regarding Australia going ahead with a three pronged spin attack featuring the likes of Steve O’Keefe, Ashton Agar and Nathan Lyon. Australians brought in all rounder Hilton Cartwright to replace Josh Hazlewood who got injured in the Dhaka Test match.

Steve Smith handed the new ball to Nathan Lyon in the second over of the match alongside Pat Cummins. This ploy of using a spinner in the second over of Day 1 was never applied by the Kangaroos in the last 79 years. The last time such an incident occurred was back in 1938.