Mumbai Indians

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A maiden international century for a future star, the return of a wounded warrior and Cheteshwar Pujara announcing to the world that he is here to stay a bit longer - the first Test between India and Bangladesh in Chattogram took a few filmy turns. 

As it turned out, the entire Test had a few jump scares for the Indian unit, who comfortably blazed past the hosts by a margin of 188 runs.

Bangladesh fought back in the second round valiantly after the visiting team had dominated pretty much the entire Test. However, they had too much left to do and eventually fell short as India established a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Iyer and Pujara to the rescue

Taijul Islam dismantled India’s top order with a terrific spell on Day 1, but Rishabh Pant’s 46 off 45 balls gave us some momentum. Pujara and Iyer picked up on it to establish a much-needed 149-run partnership, which ended with Pujara falling short of a much-deserved century.

Ashwin scores fifty; Kuldeep turns all-rounder

His all-round credentials are not often given the credit it deserves, but Ravichandran Ashwin (58 off 113 balls) reminded the world of what he can do with a handy contribution that left the Bangla bowlers looking to the skies in agony. He added an 88-run stand with Kuldeep Yadav (40 off 114 balls) as India got past the 400-mark.

Kuldeep continued his fireworks with the ball, picking up a five-fer in his comeback Test (40 runs and five wickets in one day, officially an all-rounder for me). Bangladesh were bowled out for 150 runs pretty quickly, but despite having an option to enforce follow-on, the Rahuls at the helm decided to bat again.

Pujji bhai in fifth gear; Shubman scores maiden ton

Shubman Gill made headlines earlier on Day 3 with his trademark attacking cricket after a cautious start. He missed out at the Gabba in THAT TEST vs Australia, but finally got there in Chattogram.

After he scored his maiden ton, Pujara went into overdrive mode and took the aerial route against spinners. The world had turned upside down, or so it felt, watching Kohli anchor the innings as Pujji bhai went after the bowlers.

The declaration was kept on hold until the Batman of Indian cricket (apt, right?) brought up his 19th Test century. Bangladesh were handed a 513-run target after skipper Rahul called the batters back to the dressing room.

Zakir Hasan leads Bangladesh’s fightback

Although the team would’ve loved to finish the match on Day 4, Zakir Hasan (100 in 224 balls) and Nazmul Hossain (67 off 156 balls) Shanto kept Bangladesh’s boat afloat for a longer period of time. Zakir brought up his first Test century while Shanto persevered resiliently.

Wickets did not come easily for the Indian bowlers, who were forced to take the game to the final day.

A Sunday morning wrap-up in style

Shakib Al Hasan went hell for leather on the final day with nothing to lose, but the Indian bowlers were pretty zen and unfazed by that. They got the wickets that were necessary at the other end, and wrapped up the match in style.

Kuldeep ended Shakib’s entertaining stay by dismantling his stumps and in the next 14 deliveries, Bangladesh were bowled out for 324 runs. The left-arm leggie was named Player of the Match for scalping eight wickets in his first Test since February 2021.

India emerged victorious by a healthy margin, thus keeping themselves faintly alive in the World Test Championship final race.

Brief Scores

India 404 all out (Cheteshwar Pujara 90, Shreyas Iyer 86) & 258/2 declared (Shubman Gill 110, Cheteshwar Pujara 102*) beat Bangladesh 150 all out (Kuldeep Yadav 5/40, Mohammed Siraj 3/20) & 324 all out (Zakir Hasan 100, Axar Patel 4/77)