Chattogram: Skipper KL Rahul and young Shubman Gill were cautious in their approach as India reached 36 for no loss in their second innings at lunch after Kuldeep Yadav’s third five-wicket haul helped them dismiss Bangladesh for a paltry 150 on the third day of the opening Test here Friday.
Rahul (20 batting) and Gill (15 batting) didn’t take any undue risks as India’s overall lead swelled to 290 after the Indian captain decided against enforcing the follow-on on the hosts.
Playing his first Test match in 22 months, Kuldeep registered career-best figures of five for 40 as Bangladesh could survive only 55.5 overs in their first innings.
Pacer Mohammed Siraj (3/20 in 13 overs) deserved equal credit for his incisive spells on second afternoon and evening.
With a lot of deliveries starting to keep low in the second Indian innings, the spin troika of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep and Axar Patel will be eager to come out on fourth and fifth day to ensure full 12 World Test Championship points for the team.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan introduced fellow slow left-arm orthodox Taijul Islam in the very second over of the Indian second innings with pacer Ebadot Hossain complaining of back pain.
Being a bowler short will also badly hurt Bangladesh’s plans, if Ebadot is unable to bowl further in the contest.
While Gill stepped out once and also survived an on-field leg-before decision courtesy DRS, Rahul was solid in his defence at the other end as he hardly attacked the bowling save one cover-driven four in Khaled Ahmed’s opening over and a drive-through point off Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Another dominant session for India!#BANvIND | #WTC23 | 📝 https://t.co/ym1utFHoek pic.twitter.com/ap9YfQVGJZ
— ICC (@ICC) December 16, 2022
At the start of the day, Kuldeep completed his third five-wicket haul when Ebadot (17)’s 37-ball vigil ended when his faint tickle down the leg-side was smartly snapped by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
It was Mehidy (25 batting), who fought doggedly and played the maximum number of balls (82) but had little support at another end before he became Axar Patel’s only victim of the innings.
