Jasprit Bumrah’s artistry seemed incomprehensible for an out of sorts Bangladesh batting line-up as India took complete control of the opening Test with an overall lead of 308 runs at end of second day’s play.
Bumrah took a 4-wicket haul and was well-assisted by Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj who all took 2 wickets each as the visitors crumbled for only 149 in reply to India’s first-inning total of 376 runs. This saw the Men in Blue take a massive 227-run lead.
However, the beginning of India’s second innings was not really bright as they lost skipper Rohit Sharma (5) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) with 28 on board.
Rohit was forced to play a slightly short of the length delivery from Taskin Ahmed, and the resultant edge ended with Zakir Hasan at gully.
Jaiswal was guilty of succumbing to the temptation of going for an expansive drive after pacer Nahid Rana pitched one full following up on a few short-pitched deliveries. Due to the fall of these early wickets, India needed immediate consolidation to further tighten the grip.
Gill provided that in the company of Virat Kohli for the third wicket while adding 39 runs as the duo steadied India’s ship. He played some delectable shots either side of the pitch, generating immense power and timing from his typical minimum-follow through of the bat method.
However, Kohli’s dismissal to spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz, late on the day slightly soured the proceedings for India.
With Gill batting on 33 and Rishabh Pant batting on 12, India ended the day on 81/3 and now go into the third day with the match firmly in their control. They might even consider declaring if the batters can score close to 150 runs more on Saturday which would give Bangladesh a target of over 450 runs, which against the quality Indian bowling attack will be quite difficult for them to achieve.
