NEW DELHI: Pacer mohamed siraj is confident India will win the second Test against Bangladesh and said on Saturday there was nothing to worry about as a set beater can lead the visitors to victory.
The visitors from India found themselves in a tight spot after being down 45 for four at the stumps on Day 3 in a tricky 145 chase. As many as 14 wickets fell on an engaging third day at Mirpur.
“I think we shouldn’t think too much now because we’ve only lost four wickets. We need about 80 (100) or so. We only need one batter to prepare, Axar shows the right intention,” Siraj said at the press conference.
At the stumps, Axar Patel (26) and Jaydev Unadkat (3) were at the crease, with India still needing another 100 points.
“Yes, we lost two more wickets but Axar is ready, he shows good intentions. We also have Rishabh (Pant) and Shreyas (Iyer) after that so we shouldn’t think too much.”
If India revises 145, it will be the third most successful fourth-inning run at this ground, with the top three scores being 209, 205 and 103.
After the loss of India KL Rahul (2) and Cheteshwar Pujara (6) at the start of the chase, head coach Rahul Dravid decided to dispatch night watchman Axar with over 15 overs remaining.
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2nd Test: Mehidy Hasan leads Bangladesh fightback as India watch defeat
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India suffered a collapse of the upper order chasing a narrow 145 victory target after spinner Mehidy Hasan struck three shots to keep alive Bangladesh’s hopes of a league-level victory series.
The tourists were on a precarious 45-4 after 14 wickets fell on a frantic third day – half of them in the final session alone.
Axar Patel, promoted to number four, beat on 26 at the stumps with night watchman Jaydev Unadkat on three at the other end.
Bangladesh’s lower middle order, led by Litton Das (73 from 98 balls) and supported by Nurul Hasan Sohan (31 from 29 balls) and Taskin Ahmed (31 from 46 balls) counter-attacked to carry the score of the second sleeve at 231.
If India were to lose this game, the 118 runs scored by the last four Bangladeshi pairings would haunt them as much as not using a third spinner in Kuldeep Yadav on a track that was getting more and more venomous as the game progressed.
KL Rahul (2), who had a terrible game as skipper and batter, would like to forget this game in a hurry.
Mehidy (3-12) fired Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill was puzzled and fired off-guard Virat Kohli to escalate India’s crisis.
In Rahul’s case, he tentatively pushed a delivery from Shakib (1/21 in 6 overs) that spun enough to kiss the outside edge of his bat into the keeper’s gloves.
Pujara, for the second time, came out to play Mehidy Hasan’s delivery before he could turn. The ball hit his bat and pad before a crawling Nurul performed a smart stumping.
As Gill fell from a doosra, becoming Miraz’s second victim, Kohli had no choice but to go out late in the evening as the pitch began to look like a snake pit at times with deliveries hissing past the willow.< /p>
Virat Kohli needed a DRS to keep from getting his leg knocked out before Taijul Islam.
But in the first two sessions, it was Axar Patel (3/68) with Mohammed Siraj (2/41) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/66) who had Bangladesh on the mat at 113 for 6.
Ashwin dismissed Najmul Hossain in the second set of the day and Mohammed Siraj fired Mominul Haque, whose 84 was the highest score in the first set of Bangladesh 227.
Home captain Shakib Al Hasan played a loose shot and Mushfiqur Rahim also fell cheaply, but Zakir Hasan netted a patient 51 to take Bangladesh past the 100 mark.
Nurul Hasan came out and attacked the spinners in his little cameo of 31 from 29 balls.
Litton was celebrating his first IPL contract with some vigorous hits and the sixty runs with Taskin during which India also lost a few holds which proved costly.
Jaydev Unadkat (1/17), the third setter India used as they were “confused” looking at the greenish tint, was only used for nine overs of the 70.2 they played.
Litton was dropped twice by Kohli, who also passed up a chance to Nurul (31).
“I think we shouldn’t think too much that four wickets are gone. If one of our batsmen gets ready, there won’t be much pressure on us,” said Mohammed Siraj.
“Sending out Axar is the call of management. I think if there’s a left-handed and right-handed hitter it’s going to be hard for the bowlers to adapt. So I think that’s because of that that this call was taken,” Siraj said.
The 28-year-old from Hyderabad scalped two wickets — Mominul Haque (5) and Litton Das (73) – on day three as India knocked out Bangladesh for 231 in the second set.
“In that wicket there is an extra bounce for the fast bowlers so I was trying to hit the area as hard as I could because we were getting an extra bounce so our plan was to hit that area hard and as you can see , we have wickets.”
India squandered its two DRSs in the span of five deliveries. The first was in the eighth when Ravichandran Ashwin appeared to have trapped Najmul Hossain Shanto and skipper KL Rahul sent him to the third referee.
In the next lesson, Siraj was convinced he got Zakir Hasan after hitting him on the pads. Once again, Rahul went upstairs, only to find that the ball had kicked off the outside leg.
“Every time the ball hits the pad as a bowler, you feel it’s out. But it’s important that the bowler and keeper have a conversation before they go over,” Siraj said.
“Since the batter was in front of me, I was convinced for the review but it didn’t go the way I thought it would.”
While Litton Das led Bangladesh’s response with a 73-98, Siraj felt Nurul Hasan’s 29-31 counterattack changed the momentum.
“The wicket-keeper came and started to attack and that changed the momentum and we conceded another 30 points, but that’s not something we should worry too much about,” he said.
(With agency contributions)
