India wrap up series opener comfortably as Bangladesh crumble early on Day 5

It was never going to be easy in the tiger’s den to walk away with the prize, especially after a series defeat in the shorter formats of the game, but India managed to take a stride in the right direction as they thumped the hosts emphatically in the opening Test of the two-match bilateral affair.

India had a shaky start to the game with their top order returning to the pavilion for cheap in the first innings. Cheteshwar Pujara extended his fine run in the ongoing calendar year to another international chapter as he started the rebuild alongside Rishabh Pant and then Shreyas Iyer. Pujara dropped anchor at the other end while Shreyas Iyer brought out the big guns to help India stabilize their ship on the first day.

Despite the departure of both Pujara and Iyer in quick succession in the context of the innings, another incredulous stand between Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav on the second day helped India pile up a mammoth 404 on the board in the first innings. Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were the two architects of Bangladesh’s decent bowling as the duo picked up 8 wickets between them.

India was in no mood to give away any breathing space to the hosts as they walked out to bat with Siraj breathing early fire. Out of the first 4 wickets that fell, RCB’s ace quick managed to bag three of them while a late charge from Kuldeep Yadav brought Bangladesh to their knees.

As Kuldeep and Siraj sang a song of ice and fire, India secured a ginormous lead of 254 runs in the first innings to have a comprehensive head start to the finish line. Rahul and Gill started firing on all cylinders and despite the fall of the Indian captain, Gill and Pujara carried on with the blitz while the hosts reeled in agony.

A century apiece by Gill and Pujara helped India set up a target of 513 for Bangladesh in the final innings, and with the fourth day lurking on the horizon, Kuldeep was all set again to unleash his illusions over the hallucinating Bangladeshi batters.

However, much to India’s surprise, Bangladesh had a strong start to their second innings as Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hassan batted comfortably till the end of the first session, sparking a very slender shaft of hope for the hosts in the land of titanic adversities.

As India struggled to find a way to rattle the opening partnership, an experienced Umesh Yadav produced the much-needed breakthrough, drifting the ball in the air as Najmul Hossain Shanto was taken completely aback by the late wobble. With Shanto back in the pavilion, Axar Patel started asking all the right questions, bagging Yasir Ali and producing the inexplicable turners.

It was just a matter of time that India barged through the floodgates and left the hosts on their knees. Zakir Hasan pulled off a century to keep Bangladesh fighting while their skipper put in a late shift to try and stall their decline only to hit a dead wall against Kuldeep Yadav who had another cracker of a spell with 3 wickets to show for.

Picking 8 wickets in the game that shaped up the fate of the contest, Kuldeep Yadav walked away with the player of the match award. India will also be happy to welcome back Cheteshwar Pujara to his old reckoning self, especially ahead of the last five Test matches in the current phase of the WTC. India will now shift their attention to Mirpur as the second and final Test starts on Thursday.