Hyderabad: Before the game not many gave them a chance to survive till the last day of the game but Test babies Bangladesh have done well to stay alive and fight another day against powerhouses India. At stumps on Sunday, the visitors were wobbling at 103 for 3 in their second innings, still needing 356 in 90 overs on the morrow.
The good news for them is that first innings heroes Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Mehedi Hasan are in the game — the three had contributed 260 in the first essay. With the ball beginning to turn, Virat Kohli too would be fancying his chances to close the game well in time.
Soumya Sarkar was most impressive of the Bangla batsmen on the fourth day. The Southpaw hit a couple of stylish boundaries on either sides of the wicket off seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar before the bowler got back with a hit on the grill as the left-hander tried to evade a rising delivery. He later fell to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja after crashing seven fours in his 42.
India began the day well, getting Mehedi Hasan on his overnight score of 51 as Bhuvneshwar broke through the batsman’s defences in the very first over to end the 87-run stand for the seventh wicket.
Tailender Taijul Islam stuck around for a while before a lifter from Umesh Yadav brushed his gloves as he tried to evade it and landed in wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha’s gloves.
However, Rahim began to step up, and crashed the first six of the innings off pacer Ishant Sharma, who had troubled him quite a bit on Saturday with snorters.
The Bangla captain tried to pull but thanks to a strong bottom hand, the top edge sailed over fine leg. Rahim endured tense moments while on 95 when India went for a referral over a caught behind appeal that was turned down. Replays showed the ball had brushed the arm guard on its way to the wicketkeeper.
The pocket-rocket soon brought up his century by flicking Umesh Yadav to the boundary. Rahim was the last man out. He fell trying to sweep Ashwin, his opposite number Saha collecting the catch behind the stumps.
That was also Ashwin’s 250th Test wicket. The off-spinner became the fastest to reach the landmark, in 45 Tests, three fewer than Australian fast bowling legend Dennis Lillee.
Ashwin became the sixth Indian after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (417), Zaheer Khan (311) and Bishan Singh Bedi (266) in the 250-plus club and the 18th bowler in the world to have achieved the feat.
Despite a lead of 299, Kohli did not enforce the follow-on and India batted a second time in search of quick runs. The captain thumped a 40-ball 38 that included two fours and a maximum. He smashed Shakib Al Hasan for a six over long-on but fell in the same over, caught by Mahmudullah at short mid-wicket as he tried to whip another one.
Mehedi Hasan failed to pouch a Jadeja skier on the mid-wicket boundary off Shakib with the batsman yet to open his account and India declared their second innings at 159 for 4 at the stroke of tea, setting the visitors 459 to win the game.
