India vs Bangladesh 2019, 2nd Test: 4 talking points from Day 1

The historic Day/Night Test match between India and Bangladesh kicked off at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata as India outplayed Bangladesh on the opening day to wrest early control of the match.

After a comprehensive victory over Bangladesh in the first Test at Indore, India came into this contest with an unchanged playing XI. Bangladesh, on the other hand, made a couple of changes, bringing in Al-Amin Hossain and Nayeem Hasan in place of Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan in a hope to turn their fortunes around after a disastrous show at the Holkar Stadium.

Bangladesh skipper Mominul Islam opted to bat first after winning the toss, looking to take advantage of a batting-friendly first session in the afternoon. Their openers started cautiously, but only for a brief period before the Indian fast bowlers exposed the loopholes in their batting order and skittled them out for just 106.

While Bangladesh sent the Indian openers back to the hut early in India's first essay, a solid 94-run partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli ensured India didn't give away the control to the opponents as the hosts ended the opening day with a score of 174/3.

Also see – World Test Championship Schedule

Despite Bangladesh's poor show with the bat, the opening day of the second Test was quite eventful, and on that note, here are four such talking points from the first day of the historic Test match.

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#1 A 'perfect ten' by the Indian pace battery

Ishant Sharma was the pick of the bowlers and finished with a 5-wicket haul

Bangladesh began their innings on a positive note and the openers seemed quite comfortable in the first six overs. However, the scene changed drastically from the 7th over when Ishant Sharma sent Imrul Kayes (15-ball 4) back to the pavilion. Kayes' dismissal opened the floodgates and the Bangladeshi batsmen could not find a way to counter India's fiery bowling unit and rebuild the innings.

The Indian fast bowlers were at their best and the trio of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami combined to prize out all the oppositions' ten wickets. Ishant, in particular, was the pick of the bowlers as he finished with figures of 5/22, his 10th five-wicket haul, while Umesh Yadav (3/29) and Mohammed Shami (2/36) continued their red-hot form in the longest format of the game to make things more miserable for Bangladesh.

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#2 Bangladesh suffer two concussion blows

Liton Das had to be replaced by a concussion substitute after being hit on the helmet by a bouncer

Mohammed Shami made quite an impression with his pace and purchase off the strip, but was majorly involved in two big moments on the opening day, when he first hit Liton Das and then Nayeem Hasan on the helmet.

Liton Das retired hurt after a while, while Nayeem continued to bat until he was castled by Ishant Sharma. Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam were called in as the concussion replacements for Liton and Nayeem respectively.

While Mehidy fell for a 13-ball 8 but was not allowed to bowl, Taijul Islam replaced Nayeem in the bowling unit, but went wicketless from eight overs and gave away 23 runs.

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#3 Indian openers depart after an aggressive start

Rohit Sharma(R) and Mayank Agarwal (L) failed to convert the promising start to a big score.

After bundling out Bangladesh for a paltry score of just 106, the Indian openers were handed the responsibility of wading through the new challenge under lights and give India a solid start. The pair of Mayank Agarwal (21-ball 14) and Rohit Sharma (35-ball 21) started well and put up a 26-run partnership off just 4.4 overs before Agarwal was removed by Al-Amin Hossain.

With Agarwal sent back early courtesy of a fine catch from Mehidy Hasan at gully, an error in judgement from Rohit Sharma while trying to leave a ball in the 13th over was met by a loud appeal from the visitors as the umpire raised the dreaded finger and sent Rohit on his way, despite a DRS attempt to overturn the decision.

On the back of some fine knocks from the duo, the early dismissals of both the openers came as a rare failure but played out as a test for the middle order to steady the ship.

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#4 Virat Kohli's becomes the quickest to score 5000 Test runs as captain

Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli became the fastest to score 5000 runs in Test cricket during his unbeaten 93-ball 59 on the opening day, and in the process, became the sixth skipper in the world to achieve the feat.

Kohli took 86 innings to reach the milestone, beating ex-Australian skipper Ricky Ponting's record of crossing the landmark in 97 innings.

Coming into bat after Rohit Sharma's dismissal with the score on 43-2 after 12.5 overs, Kohli put up a 94-run stand for the third wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara (105-ball 55) to stabilise the innings after a couple of early blows.

Post Pujara's dismissal, Ajinkya Rahane (22-ball 23*) joined Kohli in the middle and the duo's unbeaten 37-run stand ensured that India held the advantage going into the second day's proceedings.