India dominated proceedings on Day 2 of the one-off Test against Bangladesh at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, amassing 689 for 7 declared in their first innings before taking the wicket of Soumya Sarakr to leave the visitors at 41 for 1 and a moutain to climb in the upcoming few days.
Virat Kohli was once again the star for the hosts, scoring his fourth double hundred and was well-supported by Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja.
Here are the talking points from the day:
5.India get it right with the DRS
For the first time in the five-match rubber against England, India employed the Decision Review System(DRS) for a Test series in their own backyard. It was a decision, which was met by positive reviews all around as many felt that the BCCI and the team were finally beginning to loosen their hold on the usage of the technology.
Right throughout the series, the team had a mixed outing with the technology and the outcome was that they would improve with regards to the decision making as they use it more-and-more.
On the second day of the one-off Test against Bangladesh, they got yet another chance to use the DRS when an Umesh Yadav-delivery passed the outside edge of Soumya Sarkar’s bat. The on-field umpire ruled it not out.
Not convinced by that, Kohli went up for a review and replays suggested a faint under edge and that was enough for the call to be overturned.
4.Mushfiqur Rahim’s bad day at office
To say the blunt truth upfront, Bangladesh have been poor in this game so far. One of their few bright sparks came in the very first over of the game, when Taskin Ahmed removed KL Rahul cheaply. After that, it has been India all the way.
In such a circumstance, it is often the captain, who is expected to stand up and show the way for the side. Rahim, in this regard, had a poor day behind the stumps. After removing Ajinkya Rahane, they had the chance of getting rid of Wriddhiman Saha soon enough, however, had Rahim not gobbled an easy chance to stump him.
Staring at a deficit in excess of 600 runs, the Bangladesh batsmen have a huge task in front of them and Rahim will need to make a significant contribution with the bat in order to make a match of this Test.
3.Mehedi Hasan impresses with the ball
During their tiring bowling performance, if there was one visiting bowler, who impressed with the way he performed, it was the off-spinner Mehedi Hasan. The 19-year-old bowled 42 overs and picked up 2 wickets for 165 runs, but there were phases where he got the ball to rip and caused some discomfort for the batsman in the middle.
Usually, on a first or the second day pitch, spinners find it hard to get sufficient purchase unless of course, it is a rank turner, but despite that Hasan bowled with a good amount of control.
If India does bat again in the ongoing game, it will be interesting to see whether he can create some damage in the Indian batting line-up. Also, on Day 2, Hasan contributed in the field by taking an outstanding catch to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane.
2.Wriddhiman Saha’s fine comeback to India colours
Returning back into the national fold after recovering from injury, Wriddhiman Saha showed that he was still the number one wicket-keeper batsman in the country at the moment. The Bengal cricketer notched up his second Test hundred on Day 2 of the one-off Test against Bangladesh and made a grand comeback back into the side.
He was coming into the game, on the back of a match-winning hundred for the Rest of India side against Gujarat in the Irani Cup match and showed that it always helps to come into an international game on the back of runs in a domestic game.
It came as a surprise for a few to see Saha come ahead of R Ashwin in the batting order since the latter did well with the bat in the Number 6 spot last year. However, the former proved those detractors wrong and showed that he was a more than capable batsman to have in the Top 6 of a batting unit
1.Virat Kohli’s regal form continues
Sometimes, we as writers are also stumped while watching a genius at play. I am sure on several days for the past generation of writers, that scenario came about when Sachin Tendulkar was demolishing some of the best bowlers on view.
Fro this generation, that issue is cropping up while watching Virat Kohli bat. Every possible adjective has already been used to describe the right-hander, who just seems to have this never ending appetite for runs and is making, what is considered to be a difficult task of scoring a Test hundred, seem ridiculously easy.
There is a method to Kohli’s madness and it involves no slogging or rash strokes and instead relies upon conventional stroke play, which is great to see in a day-and-age where unconventionality breeds among the modern-day batsman.
On the second day, en route to his score of 204, Kohli broke numerous records, including going past Virender Sehwag for the most number of runs made by an Indian player in a home season also became the first playert to score four double tons in four consecutive series, and with more four Tests to go against Australia, one can expect him to get a few big scores under his belt.
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