Bangladesh 26 (Zakir 10, Shadman 7*, Ashwin 2-14) and 233 (Mominul 107*, Bumrah 3-50, Akash Deep 2-43) trails. India 285 on December 9 (Jaiswal 72, Rahul 68, Mehidy 4-41, Shakib 4-78) for 26 runs.
With the sun finally shining after several days of cloudy weather and rain, the pitch had better carry in the first session. However, the unique characteristics of the black dirt surface caused some deliveries to remain slightly lower.
None of that mattered to Jaiswal, who started India’s response with a four-hit hat-trick against Mahmood, who had five in Chennai. At the other end, Rohit hit the first two balls he faced for six, first running down the track to fast bowler Khaled Ahmed to pile on over long-on and then pulling one into the deep square-leg stand. The pair hit two more fours and two sixes to take India to 50 in just three overs.
To slow down India, Bangladesh brought in Mehidy and clubbed for four over midwicket, but he almost hit the fourth ball when Rohit was ruled out lbw. However, Rohit survived a review by hitting the ball outside the leg line. But in the next ball, Mehidy had the last laugh, keeping a single flight delivery low and spinning sharply back through Rohit’s defence.
That didn’t stop Jaiswal, who went on a rampage against the spin. India were bowled out for at least 14 each in 6 to 12 overs. In the process, Jaiswal hit a 31-ball 50 and India reached 100 in just 10.1 overs. He used his reach well to keep the spinner away. The highlight was a big one where he smoked long over Mehidy, who also ensured he dipped the ball to full length. However, the low bounce of the surface came into play as Mahmud’s length ball stayed slightly low and hit Jaiswal’s stumps.
Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant also attacked from the start, with the former pushing Mehidy over deep midwicket after dancing down the track. But they drank tea and died on Shakib with India in hyper-attack mode. But there was no slowdown in India. Their aggressive play kept Bangladesh back and most of the time they had at least five fielders on the boundary line.
Kohli and Rahul used this to strike and rotate the bat freely. Kohli is not afraid to use his feet and has switched on his ODI mode. This should have sent Kohli back due to a mix-up with Pant, but Khaled missed despite reaching the stumps by weaponizing a throw from the striker’s end. Kohli was stranded at the crease and gave up.
He sprinkled salt in the wounds of Khaled and Bangladesh, hitting back-to-back fours, the second of which went over extra cover. He also used his feet against the spin to hit Taijul Islam with a long-range succession. However, to bring down Shakib against midwicket, he was bowled out after one to slip.
However, Rahul used a lot of sweeps and reverse sweeps and never stopped once. He looks comfortable with the slower pace of the surface and cashes in on any width. He put in a masterclass in playing against spin and scored his fastest Test fifty from 33 balls. However, India rose from 269 for 5 just before the declaration to 284 for 9.
The day started with Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah bowling four maidens in the first five overs of Bangladesh’s first innings. The only run of the stage came via Mushfiqur Rahim’s inside edge, with both bowlers hitting the area around good length to varying degrees of takeoff. Bumrah got an in-derker for more bounce and took the inside edge of Mushfiqur for a four, but he felled the next ball after he put his arm on his shoulder. According to the broadcast, the boundary ball landed at a good length outside off and deviated about 2cm into the batsman. The wicket ball deviated from the same landing spot by about 6 cm, leading to Mushfiqur’s misjudgment.
Rohit was not afraid to set up the attacking field and the sight of three slips and two gullies was a familiar one from the better part of the first session. This allowed enough space for the Bangladesh batsmen to hit four, three while Litton Das bowled Bumrah off the over. But India’s disciplined bowling applied enough pressure and Litton, aided by excellent fielding, tried to break the shackles. He charged at Mohammed Siraj’s long ball and hit it into the air wide to mid-off, where Rohit timed his jump perfectly to snatch the ball one-handed.
Shakib’s hold at center lasted only 17 balls and his attempt to use his feet against Ashwin proved to be his undoing. He could have avoided it if Siraj hadn’t reversed mid-on, dropped backwards and caught it with one hand.
After lunch, Mehidy hit Bumrah for 34 off seven balls, but the latter extracted revenge by sharpening a ball of length that Bumrah angled and seamed. Jadeja picked up his 300th Test wicket by catching and bowling Khaled as Bangladesh lost their last seven wickets for 121 runs.
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Sudarshanan7
