Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer lift India to 314 against Bangladesh after batting wobble

Indian batters Rishabh Pant (93 off 104) and Shreyas Iyer (87 off 105) added 159 runs for the fifth wicket on Day 2 of the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Friday, December 23. Courtesy of the partnership, the visitors recovered from 94/4 to reach 253/4. However, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan (4/79) ran through the Indian lower order to hold them to 314.

While India lost their last six wickets for 61 runs, they did manage to eke out a significant 87-run first-innings lead. Bangladesh went to stumps on Day 2 at 7/0 after six overs.

After Bangladesh dominated the first session of play, claiming three crucial wickets, Pant and Shreyas took charge of the proceedings. Shreyas could have been dismissed on 19 when he hit a delivery that bounced a little extra towards gully. A flying Mehidy Hasan Miraz attempted to pull off a blinder, but the ball did not stick.

There was another life for the batter on 21 when he was beaten in the flight by Shakib and was stranded out of his crease. But the Bangladesh keeper failed to collect the ball cleanly as a massive chance went begging.

Pant kept finding the boundaries with ease and smashed his first six by slog-sweeping Taijul Islam over deep midwicket. He completed his fifty with a couple off the next ball. Shreyas then took on Shakib and clubbed him for two fours in an over as India began to assert their dominance. Two more sixes followed off Pant’s willow - one of them one-handed.

Even as Pant began going berserk, Shreyas reached a brisk fifty with a single off Khaled Ahmed in the 59th over. India went to Tea at 226/4, adding 140 runs in the second session for the loss of only Virat Kohli’s wicket.

Pant and Shreyas continued their good work in the final session and were looking good for their respective centuries, but neither could reach the landmark. Pant fell in the 90s for the sixth time in his Test career, nicking Mehidy to the keeper. Shreyas was then trapped lbw by Shakib with one that kept low as the batter missed his sweep.

A few handy boundaries from Jaydev Unadkat (14*) and Umesh Yadav (14) took India past the 300-run mark before Shakib ended the innings by having Mohammed Siraj stumped.

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Taijul Islam shines before Pant and Shreyas lead India’s fightback

Taijul got Bangladesh off to a brilliant start on Day 2, dismissing the Indian top three in the first session of play. The visitors, resuming their first innings on 19/0, went to Lunch in some trouble at 86/3.

Stand-in skipper KL Rahul’s poor run with the willow continued as he was trapped lbw for 10. The right-handed batter came down the track and tried to defend Taijul, but the ball struck his pad. Bangladesh used DRS to get the lbw decision in their favor.

Shubman Gill was the next to go for 20. He missed a premeditated sweep and was caught right in front of the stumps. Cheteshwar Pujara reached 7000 runs in Test cricket with a paddle off Shakib for three. However, Taijul ended his resistance for 24 before the first break. Pujara tried to defend a full delivery but ended up offering a bat-pad catch to short leg, where Mominul Haque took a good low catch.

Kohli escaped a run-out off the last ball before lunch, following a mix-up with Pant. However, he fell early in the second session. Having reached 24, Kohli, as he has so often done lately in Tests, poked at a length delivery outside off and nicked Taskin Ahmed to the keeper. Pant and Shreyas then controlled the Indian innings beautifully.