Bangladesh have 4 wickets in hand and Shakib’s men still need 241 runs to win the game.
How it happened: 1st test day 4
Spinner Axar Patel ended the day with three wickets, while Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav, who bagged five wickets in the first leg, claimed one wicket each.
Beginner Zakir Hassan (100 from 224 balls) showed plenty of character, scoring a patient 100, but salvaging the Test match by batting for nearly 180 overs in two days was still going to be a daunting task, while chasing a goal of 513.
While Zakir and his young opening partner Najmul Hossain Shanto (67, 156 balls) frustrated Indian bowlers for an entire session and added a record 124 for the first wicket, the visitors backtracked in the second session to regain control of the procedure.
Stumps on day 4⃣ of the first #BANvIND test! #TeamIndia needs four more wickets on the final day👌👌Bangladesh 272-… https://t.co/Lpht7YvfNm
— BCCI (@BCCI) 1671273838000
Axar (27-10-50-3), who made a dream Test debut against England at home in 2021, put in perhaps his best performance in a short career in the longest format given that the fourth-day wicket didn’t have much help for the spinners.
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury’s track showed no considerable wear and surviving was not difficult with only a few deliveries spinning noticeably.
Three batters – Yasir Ali (5), Mushfiqur Rahim (23) and Nurul Hasan (3) – actually outscored Axar’s deliveries and made a fatal mistake.
Yasir and Mushfiqur didn’t cover their off-stump line expecting arm balls, but it turned enough after the throw, tying the off-stump line every time. The only difference was that Yasir planted his front foot while Mushfiqur went on the back foot.
In the case of Nurul, Axar gave the ball an extra flight and the batter was beaten for his turn as he tried to convert it to a half volley and Rishabh Pants performed a smart stump removal.
Ashwin (27-2-76-1) was not at his best in this game but he would certainly be happy to see Zakir’s back, caught by a Virat Kohli dive on the first slide. The batter’s defensive point got an inside edge on the pads and popped up for Kohi to rush in front.
Kuldeep (18-2-69-1) also did his part pushing an agitated Litton Das to try and throw him halfway, but the batter couldn’t check his half-scoop and half-drive, providing an easy take on Umesh Yadav.
But no credit is enough for young Zakir, who showed admirable temperament by playing defensive play in his first test but also hitting those limits – 13 in all with a six in his innings.
Until the southpaw came out, none of the Indian bowlers except Umesh during an after-lunch spell with old Kookaburra could trouble Zakir.
Umesh (15-3-27-1), in the after-lunch session, cast a nice spell with the older Kookaburra, knocking the odd ball over. Some of the deliveries that Zakir decided to leave on the length could have hit the stump, but he was lucky.
In fact, Umesh also helped draw first blood after an opening record between Zakir and Shanto.
Umesh ended Shanto’s 156-ball resilience with a fuller delivery outside the stump and found the left-handed opener pushing him indecisively. Shanto still might have been lucky when the ball came out of first fielder Kohli’s grip, but Pant dove deep to his left and caught it on the second attempt.
The second session proved to be important for India as it produced just 52 runs and the three wickets shattered any dreams of upset the Bangladesh team might have harbored.
In the first session however, Zakir and Shanto struck with plenty of purpose as their hard-fought half-centuries helped Bangladesh reach 119 without a loss at lunchtime.
The two left-handers showed a lot more application on a track that seemed good for the stick.
Incidentally, the century-plus position between Zakir and Shanto was the highest of any opening pair against India in the Test matches.
The two-game series is part of the ICC World Test Championship. India are fourth in the standings, having won six of their 12 matches. Bangladesh are in last place with eight defeats in 10 matches.
India must win both games in the series to stay alive in the race for the World Test Championship final.
(With agency contributions)
