India spark chaos at Green Park as Yashasvi Jaiswal steals the show

Green Park finally witnessed some cricketing action after two and half rained out days and the return to the play was massive for the hosts. When play was called off on the first day, Bangladesh was stationed at 107/3. The match resumed on the fourth day of the contest and all hell broke loose.

The fourth day started with Jasprit Bumrah providing an early breakthrough as he cannoned through the gates of Mushfiqur Rahim (11). Liton Das knitted together a crucial stand with Najmul Hossain Shanto as the duo added 36 runs for the fifth wicket before Rohit Sharma grabbed a stunner to remove the former for 13.

Shakib Al Hasan couldn’t add too many runs either as he fell for nine against Ravichandran Ashwin, reducing Bangladesh to 170/6. However, a crucial knock from Mehidy Hasan Miraz (20) laced with the brilliance of Najmul Hossain Shanto (107*) allowed the visitors to knit together a stand of 54 runs for the seventh wicket.

Once Bumrah had the better of Miraz, it was a matter of time before the Indian bowlers mopped up the remaining resistance from the visitors. Bumrah struck a third to get Taijul Islam (5) while Siraj got rid of Hasan Mahmud (1) and Ravindra Jadeja packed up the Bangladeshi innings with the wicket of Khaled Ahmed.

Bangladesh was bowled out for 233 while Najmul Hossain Shanto stayed unbeaten for 107. Jasprit Bumrah led the Indian charge with figures of 3/50 while he had support from the trio of Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Ravichandran Ashwin who claimed six wickets between them.

Coming out to bat, India had already plotted a display of insane fireworks. Even though reading the runes one could tell that India was planning to go big but the kind of scoring rate that was for display left everyone including the visitors gobsmacked.

Rohit Sharma was at his blistering best while Yashasvi Jaiswal knew no bounds in the opening stand. Sharma scored 23 off 11 balls before Mehidy Hasan Miraz removed him but by then India had already amassed 55 runs from 23 balls. Jaiswal joined by Shubman Gill started enforcing himself with more vim and vigour.

India registered their quickest century in an innings in Test cricket while Jaiswal blasted a 51-ball-72 before Hasan Mahmud claimed him with a delivery that stayed unexpectedly low. Shubman Gill fell shortly for 39 while Rishabh Pant couldn’t add much to the tally as Shakib Al Hasan had him removed, tempting him with a chance to go for a big shot. Despite the fall of wickets, India had no intentions of relenting and continued with the charge.

Virat Kohli (47) and KL Rahul (68) added 87 runs for the fifth wicket while India soared to 246 before the former fell to a seasoned Shakib. The fall of Virat’s wicket opened up the floodgates and Bangladesh was quick to latch onto the invitation as they stormed through, forcing a premature declaration from India at 285/9.

Leading by 52 runs, India were keen to get a headstart for the final day’s play and finished with a couple of wickets, thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin removed Zakir Hasan (10) and nightwatchman, Hasan Mahmud (4) to finish the day with Bangladesh’s score reading 26/2.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh – 233 (Najmul Hossain Shanto – 107*, Jasprit Bumrah – 3/50)

India – 285/9d (Yashasvi Jaiswal – 72, Mehidy Hasan Miraz – 4/41)

Bangladesh – 26/2, trailing by 26 runs (Shadman Islam – 7*, Ravichandran Ashwin – 2/14)