India wrap Bangladesh up in a Test of Records

Bangladesh had 7 wickets to play with on the final day of the sole test match to save the game and they tried their best. Their best was not good enough though as Ashwin, Jadeja and Ishant forced Bangladesh to surrender by a huge 208 runs. Ishant bowled a fiery spell to break through the middle order with 2 crucial wickets while Ashwin and Jadeja struck with 4 wickets each to send the Hyderabad crowd soaring into cheers. It was the first test match for Bangladesh on Indian soil and they impressed one and all despite the result going against them. The match was initially setup by the Indian batsmen in the first innings as they built a mountain of a score (687/6 dec.) led by skipper Virat Kohli, who scored his 4^th double ton in the 4^th consecutive test series and Murli Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha, who got centuries as well.

India won the toss and decided to bat first on a typical Indian batting friendly wicket. The decision seemed to backfire a bit for a moment as opener KL Rahul was castled by Taskin Ahmed in the first over of the match to get the Bangladesh team up and running. The joy was shortlived though as the most successful Indian pair of the year, Murli Vijay-Cheteshwar Pujara once again got going together to form yet another match changing partnership of 178 runs as Pujara missed a well deserved century by 17 runs. Vijay on the other hand was determined to make it count and so he did as he completed a brilliant century and finally walked back after scoring 108 runs. Virat Kohli was in the middle with Ajinkya Rahane and the test match started to look like a one day match as Kohli and Rahane went about their business in style with getting boundaries at will. Kohli reached yet another century in literally no time and by the time Rahane was dismissed on 82 runs, the partnership had reached 222 runs. Runs kept on coming with Kohli in full flow and Wriddhiman Saha playing well as well. Kohli did the unthinkable again as he notched up his 4^th double ton of his career, the current year, as a captain and in the 4^th consecutive series, all records by the way. Kohli finally departed for 204 but the Indian juggernaut did not halt there. Ashwin scored 35, Jadeja 60* and Saha reached his century (104*) with a six to get India declared on a humongous 687 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.

Bangladesh had many demons to tackle with the kind of score they were facing. They needed to score 487 runs just to avoid follow on and this situation generally is enough for players to get into a mental tangle but this Bangladesh side is no longer the minnow it was a few years back. They showed resolve and played well with Captain Mushfiqur Rahim leading the way with a magnificent century under pressure along with Shakib Al Hasan and Mehedi Hasan, who scored fighting half centuries as well. Bangladesh was all out for a respectable 388 runs and they had played almost 128 overs in the process. They played really well but due to the enormity of the Indian score though they still conceded a lead of 299 runs.

India decided not to enforce a follow on to help their bowlers get a breather after a hard toiled long 4 sessions. India needed quick runs to ensure that they had enough time on their hands to dismiss Bangladesh for the second time on the placid Hyderabad wicket. Pujara, Kohli, Rahane and Jadeja scored 54*, 38, 28, 16* respectively in quick time to declare the innings at 159 for 4 in 29 overs.

Bangladesh had 4 sessions to bat out to force a draw or win the match by scoring 459 runs. Opener Tamim Iqbal went early to Ashwin but the rest of the Bangladesh batsmen played with a lot of purpose. To mention, only 2 Bangladesh batsmen out of the top 8 played less than 50 balls in their innings, one of them being Mushfiqur Rahim who faced 44 deliveries. Indian bowlers had to toil hard for wickets but they kept managing wickets before it looked dangerous. Ashwin and Jadeja picked up 8 of the 10 second innings Bangladesh wickets but it was Ishant Sharma who won the day with a ferocious spell in the post lunch session. He was almost unplayable with the ball reversing both ways and missing the bat almost every delivery. He was rewarded with 2 wickets but that could easily have been 4 or 5. Finally Bangladesh folded for 250 runs but not before they had played out more than 100 overs in the 4^th innings of the match on a roughed up Indian pitch.

India continued the winning streak to bolster its preparations for the Australia series but Bangladesh should not be too dejected by this performance. The way they fought was exceptional and proof enough that the Bangladesh cricket is on the right path. Virat Kohli was adjudged the man of the match for his knock.

This match was nothing short of a bowl of records. To name a few:

Virat Kohli Double Ton was:

-4^th in the calendar year

-4^th as a captain

-4^th in the 4^th consecutive series

Ashwin became the quickest bowler in the history of test matches to pick up 250 wickets (45 matches)

India became the only team in the history of test matches to score more than 600 runs in 3 consecutives tests.

It was the first occasion when No.s 2,3,4,5 and 6 all scored more than 75 runs.

Bangladesh score of 250 runs in the 4^th innings is the 2^nd highest post 2000.

This win is India’s 6^th consecutive series win, the longest streak for India.

Ind vs Ban, Test, Hyderabad

India 687/6 dec. & 159/4 dec.

Bangladesh 388 & 250

India won by 208 runs