The Indian bowlers took the Dhaka Test by the scruff of its neck and left the home team four runs behind going into the lunch break, still 16 runs behind. India’s quartet of R Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, and Axar Patel unleashed a menacing bowling attack on Bangladesh, which had started the morning session on 7 for 0 with the goal of eliminating India’s advantage.
Ashwin started the game against the two left-handed openers, Zakir Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto, and got a wicket right away. Turn and bounce were available, and India’s top spinner challenged Najmul twice in the first over of the day.
India lost a review for LBW when Najmul failed to escape the first time, but he was trapped leg before on the subsequent ball.
Siraj showed up at the opposite end with a spring in sync and thought he had the impressive Zakir out LBW in his first over of the day. India burned their second review so early because the ball was seen to have pitched well outside the off stump because he was sufficiently convinced to force KL Rahul to take a review.
After switching sides to go around the stumps, Siraj bowled a length ball that was angled into the left-hander and straightened a touch, and a few overs later, he struck out Mominul Haque. Mominul ended up feathering the delivery to Rishabh Pant behind because he was hesitant in moving forward.
Before bringing Unadkat into the fight, Rahul gave Umesh Yadav a brief rest during the drinks break. Shakib Al Hasan chipped a length ball from the left-arm straight to Shubman Gill at the cover, earning 13 points for the change.
Another bowling change that Rahul made quickly was spot-on. This gave Ashwin a break after a long 11-over spell and allowed him to introduce Axar. Axar didn’t let Mushfiqur Rahim settle into a rhythm against him as he kept throwing variations.
Axar tossed a few up while going wide off the crease, got the ball to turn sharply away from Mushfiqur’s bat while offering a front-foot defense, and slipped in a few sliders that the right-hander hit.
As he hit Mushfiqur on the front pad while rooted to the crease, one of these sliders had his name on it. The outcome was unaffected by Rahim’s review because the umpire raised his hand. Bangladesh was still behind India’s Day 2 lead when they went into lunch at 71 for 4.
Brief ratings: Zakir Hasan 37*; Bangladesh 227 and 71/4 Ashwin 1-26, Axar Patel 1-2, Unadkat 1-11) trail India 314 (Rishabh Pant 93, Shreyas Iyer 87; Shakib al Hasan 4-79, Taijul Islam 4-75) by 16 runs.