India v Bangladesh, One-off Test Day 3: 5 Talking Points

While it was the Indians who once again took the bulk of the day with some superior cricket, it were their counterparts Bangladesh who went ahead and made life difficult for Virat Kohli and his men as the senior batsmen in the form of Shakib-al-Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim who stepped up. While these two men were not stepping up for the first time in the grand scheme of things, the fact of the matter was that the Indians were expected to bowl them out and make them follow-on early on in the day itself.

However, what the Indians failed to take into account was the fact that Mehedi Hasan certainly knew his way around with the bat. While this was certainly evident in the eyes of one and all, there was a certainty in the manner in which Mehedi batted since they were all good cricketing shots. However, this did little to overshadow the carelessness of the poor cricket exhibited by the Bangladesh top order in the morning session.

1. Tamim Iqbal run out in the most careless of manners

The third delivery of the morning saw the first wicket taken by the Indians in the form of Tamim Iqbal who was run out in perhaps the most careless of manners. This ensured that the Bangladeshis were once again on the backfoot in the grand scheme of things given the fact that Tamim and perhaps even Mominul could have avoided this incident. In somewhat of a lazy return to his wicket, Tamim was run out when prompted by Mominul to take the run without realizing that there was indeed no second run. He walked back to the haven of the dressing room wondering what could have been.

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2. Umesh Yadav lights up the HCA with a fiery spell

It was late in the first innings that Kohli tossed the ball to Umesh Yadav. Of course, India had not yet opened their account in the wickets column, but the fact was that they did immediately after Umesh Yadav got the ball. The second day once again saw the 27-year old make his way in and get the ball to start reversing from the word go. When he bowled, both ends of the wicket looked bottled up given the manner in which Ravindra Jadeja was bowling at the other end, Yadav’s reverse swing came at high speeds as well with the pacer clocking upwards of 90 mph. This yielded Yadav his second wicket on the day in the form of Mominul Haque.

3. Shakib leads the fightback

As a senior batsman, it was Shakib-al-Hasan’s responsibility to get the trials for Bangladesh well and truly back on track. This however, was not easy given the manner in which Umesh Yadav was bowling. After staying at the crease for a bit, Shakib went ahead and began to throw his bat at the balls that were outside off-stump as well as those on his pads. This was something that ensured that the some of the balls went to the boundary as well. However, it was a rather careless shot that eventually ensured that Shakib was hauled out at cover following a tossed-up delivery from Ravi Jadeja.

4. Mushfiqur Rahim makes life difficult for Kohli

Mushfiqur Rahim, as captain has an important role to play as far as the team’s overall performance is concerned. However, the manner in which he batted on the day was simply amazing as he went ahead and racked up the runs, something that was certainly frustrating for team India and Virat Kohli on the day. However, the fact of the matter was that he showed the importance of playing the patient game, something that has seemingly been lost in the oblivion of Test cricket in recent times. He remained unbeaten on the day and also survived an injury scare after being struck on the thumb by Ishant Sharma.

5. Mehedi Hasan shows his batting acumen

Mehedi Hasan Miraz’s previous Test match high score was a mere 10 runs. However, on the day, Mehedi would not show acumen with the ball, but with the bat as the lowest of the lower middle order batsmen on the day. However, the manner in which he batted certainly showed that he knew his way around with the bat as well. He helped himself to an impressive 51 and also managed to remain unbeaten on the day.