INDORE: It took off in a flash and before he knew it, the ball grazed his elbow and dropped on to the stumps. Clutching his elbow, which seemed to have been hurt, Mehidy Miraz Hasan, who had batted reasonably well for his 38 till then, trudged off as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt. Umesh Yadav had just added injury to Bangladesh’s insult!
India vs B'desh, 1st Test: Full Scorecard
A few moments later, Bangladesh’s No. 10 Abu Jayed and No. 11 Ebadot Hossain kept running away from the stumps as Mohammad Shami looked to finish off the game. Eventually, Hossain ended the visitors’ agony when he danced down the track to loft Ravichandran Ashwin to long-on, where Yadav gleefully pouched the last man.
These days, it’s normally difficult to get tailenders out this easily. As Pakistan great Javed Miandad had once said, “ Humare zamane mein tailenders West Indies ke fast bowlers se bhaagte the. Ab waise gaindbaaz nahin hai (In our time, the tailenders used to run from the West Indies pacers. Now, we don’t find pacers like that).” If he did follow this match on TV, perhaps Miandad would have been reminded of those days.
On Day Three of the first Test at the Holkar Stadium here, India’s fast bowlers, easily the best they’ve ever had, were not just hitting the stumps, finding the edges and dismantling the opposition on what was easily the best Test pitch of this season. They were also intimidating the Bangladesh batsmen into submission.
One didn’t see either Ravindra Jadeja or Ravichandran Ashwin being unleashed on the opposition. These days, it’s difficult to take the ball out of the hands of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami. They’re like hunters in a lethal pack, ornamenting not just the Indian team but the game itself.
With Ishant and Yadav dislodging the stumps of Bangladesh openers Shadman Islam and Imrul Kayes, Shami had to wait for his turn. However, once he got the ball, the 29-year-old was like, as batting great Sunil Gavaskar put it, “a leopard waiting for the kill”.
Choosing to bowl from wide of the stumps, he had his first ‘prey’ when he struck Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque, who endured a disastrous start to his captaincy career, on the pads as the batsman went across his stumps. Mohammad Mithun tried to pull his bouncer, which can be really skiddy, but only succeeded in being caught by Ravindra Jadeja at mid-wicket. Mahmudullah edged him to Rohit at second slip, and then Taijul Islam, who succumbed to a bouncer, became his fourth and final scalp. Pity Ashwin grasped the last man to deny him a ‘fiver!’
Bowling with tremendous hostility on a wicket that offered him generous bounce, Shami finished with 4/31 to stake a genuine claim for being the best fast bowler in world cricket right now. His match haul of 7/58 was as much responsible for Bangladesh’s innings and 130-run demolition by India, as Mayank Agarwal’s 243. Mayank and the Indian pacers’ super show sort of covered up for the mediocrity dished by Bangladesh.
Showing only marginal improvement from their show in the first innings, Bangladesh batted for 69.2 overs to be bowled out for 213 after Virat Kohli declared on their overnight score of 493/6. Apart from Mehidy, the only bit of fight came from Mushfiqur Rahim (64; 150b, 7x4) and Liton Das (35; 39b, 6x4), who added 53 for the fifth wicket in 77 balls for the sixth wicket to delay the last rites.
On paper, India have a 1-0 lead, but with the second Test in Kolkata set to be played with the pink ball, which provides even more help for the fast bowlers, expect this vast gulf in the standard of both the teams to widen from November 22.
India vs B'desh, 1st Test: Full Scorecard
A few moments later, Bangladesh’s No. 10 Abu Jayed and No. 11 Ebadot Hossain kept running away from the stumps as Mohammad Shami looked to finish off the game. Eventually, Hossain ended the visitors’ agony when he danced down the track to loft Ravichandran Ashwin to long-on, where Yadav gleefully pouched the last man.
These days, it’s normally difficult to get tailenders out this easily. As Pakistan great Javed Miandad had once said, “ Humare zamane mein tailenders West Indies ke fast bowlers se bhaagte the. Ab waise gaindbaaz nahin hai (In our time, the tailenders used to run from the West Indies pacers. Now, we don’t find pacers like that).” If he did follow this match on TV, perhaps Miandad would have been reminded of those days.
On Day Three of the first Test at the Holkar Stadium here, India’s fast bowlers, easily the best they’ve ever had, were not just hitting the stumps, finding the edges and dismantling the opposition on what was easily the best Test pitch of this season. They were also intimidating the Bangladesh batsmen into submission.
One didn’t see either Ravindra Jadeja or Ravichandran Ashwin being unleashed on the opposition. These days, it’s difficult to take the ball out of the hands of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami. They’re like hunters in a lethal pack, ornamenting not just the Indian team but the game itself.
With Ishant and Yadav dislodging the stumps of Bangladesh openers Shadman Islam and Imrul Kayes, Shami had to wait for his turn. However, once he got the ball, the 29-year-old was like, as batting great Sunil Gavaskar put it, “a leopard waiting for the kill”.
Choosing to bowl from wide of the stumps, he had his first ‘prey’ when he struck Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque, who endured a disastrous start to his captaincy career, on the pads as the batsman went across his stumps. Mohammad Mithun tried to pull his bouncer, which can be really skiddy, but only succeeded in being caught by Ravindra Jadeja at mid-wicket. Mahmudullah edged him to Rohit at second slip, and then Taijul Islam, who succumbed to a bouncer, became his fourth and final scalp. Pity Ashwin grasped the last man to deny him a ‘fiver!’
Bowling with tremendous hostility on a wicket that offered him generous bounce, Shami finished with 4/31 to stake a genuine claim for being the best fast bowler in world cricket right now. His match haul of 7/58 was as much responsible for Bangladesh’s innings and 130-run demolition by India, as Mayank Agarwal’s 243. Mayank and the Indian pacers’ super show sort of covered up for the mediocrity dished by Bangladesh.
Showing only marginal improvement from their show in the first innings, Bangladesh batted for 69.2 overs to be bowled out for 213 after Virat Kohli declared on their overnight score of 493/6. Apart from Mehidy, the only bit of fight came from Mushfiqur Rahim (64; 150b, 7x4) and Liton Das (35; 39b, 6x4), who added 53 for the fifth wicket in 77 balls for the sixth wicket to delay the last rites.
On paper, India have a 1-0 lead, but with the second Test in Kolkata set to be played with the pink ball, which provides even more help for the fast bowlers, expect this vast gulf in the standard of both the teams to widen from November 22.
Source : timesofindia[dot]indiatimes[dot]com
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