Bangladesh no challenge for India in Chennai drubbing

A series expected by many to offer some challenge to the Indian juggernaut began on a rather one-sided note, as Rohit Sharma’s team demolished Bangladesh by 280 runs in the first Test match in Chennai. The result came before lunch on day four, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja sharing the required six Bangladesh wickets needed to take a 1-0 lead in the series. 

Bangladesh had arrived India after sealing a landmark 2-0 win over Pakistan, and their captain Najmul Hossain Shanto proclaimed that the team wanted to take each of these two Tests matches against India into the final session, because then, he felt, the match could swing either way. Unfortunately for Shanto, his team failed to bat out four sessions across both of their innings. The skipper’s 82 in the second innings was the only half-century of the Test for Bangladesh, whose first innings of 149 spanned 47.1 overs and the second 62.1 from which they made 234. 

Thus, Bangladesh remain winless against India in Test cricket and 0-4 in Indian soil. 

The red-soil nature of the Chennai surface, allied with some rain before the Test began, prompted both teams to play three pacers. Neither will look back and feel it was a particularly wise decision. 

For Bangladesh, barring Hasan Mahmud’s five wickets in India’s first innings, there was little spark in the pace department. Taskin Ahmed took four wickets in the match, Nahid Rana two and Mahmud went wicketless when India racked up 287/4 declared in their second innings. Having an experienced spinner like Taijul Islam would have been a better option, given India’s problems against left-arm spin, as well as because Shakib Al Hasan clearly looked off-colour and, it seems, not fully fit. 

For India, Jasprit Bumrah claimed five wickets (a stand-out four during Bangladesh’s first innings), Mohammed Siraj two from 20.1 overs and Akash Deep two from 11 overs. As it is, since the start of the World Test Championship in 2019, India’s second pacer has hardly had any role in a home Test match once a visiting team’s second innings has begun. And so to see Akash Deep under-bowled was to leave one pondering why India left out Kuldeep Yadav in Chennai, where his left-arm wrist-spin could have been very effective.

Yet these are minor quibbles. India smashed Bangladesh by a huge margin, and even though Rohit failed in both innings (his batting average against Bangladesh has now nipped under nine) and Virat Kohli had a shocker of match, there were positives from the batting. Chiefly the return of Rishabh Pant to Test cricket after 20 months, with a momentum-shifting 39 off 52 on day one and then a stirring century on day three. Shubman Gill failed on day one but underlined his value as a second-innings beast with 119 not out when India batted again. Ashwin’s sixth Test century was his best so far, coming as it did when India were 144/6 on day one, and Jadeja’s 86 in a partnership of 199 was further proof of how he is India’s middle-order backbone. 

The BCCI selectors have named an unchanged squad of 15 for the Kanpur Test starting September 27, and it could be that India make a couple bowling changes looking at the heavy workload ahead. Even so, it does not look like Bangladesh will be able to offer much of a fight to this team.