Veteran Axar Patel upped the ante with three strikes when it mattered as the Indian bowlers made up for a lackluster first innings by reducing Bangladesh to 272 for 6 in the fourth day of the opening Test. Big win Saturday on Jittatu. Rookie Zakir Hasan (100 off 224 balls) showed a lot of character, earning 100 patience, but salvaging a Test match by batting nearly 180 in two days was always going to be a tall order, while also chasing a 513 Goal. Bangladesh need another 241 runs on Sunday’s final day, but captain Shakib Al Hasan (40 overs) may be more keen to delay the inevitable.
While Zakir and his young opening partner Najmul Hossain Shanto (67 balls, 156 balls) frustrate India Bowers throughout the game and added a record 124 for the first wicket, the visitors were in the second period. In the middle of the game, he regained control of the game.
Axar (27-10-50-3) made a fantastic debut at home to England in 2021 and, given the lack of wickets on the fourth day, he may end his longest career with a The longest form achieves the best performance for spinners.
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury’s track showed no noticeable wear and tear and survived without difficulty, with only a few deliveries showing noticeable turns.
Three batsmen – Yasir Ali (5), Mushfiqur Rahim (23) and Nurul Hasan (3) – actually preempted Axar’s delivery and made a fatal error.
Yasir and Mushfiqur didn’t cover their off-stump lines expecting arm balls but turned enough after delivery to pin the off-stump both times. The only difference is that Yasir strikes with his front foot while Mushfiqur strikes with his rear foot.
In the case of Nurul, Axar let the ball fly farther, the batsman was spun when trying to turn the ball into a half-volley, and Rishabh Pant hit the ball smartly.
Ravichandran Ashwin (27-2-76-1) wasn’t at his best in this fight, but he’ll certainly be happy to see Zakir’s back, caught by diving Virat Kohli on the first slip. The hitter’s defensive stab had an inside edge to the mat and popped to allow Kohi to sprint ahead.
Kuldeep Yadav (18-2-69-1) also did his part, prompting a fretful Litton Das to try to bring him down the middle, but the batsman couldn’t check his half-scoop and half-drive, providing An easy catch to Umesh Yadav.
But no credit was enough for young Zakir, who showed admirable temperament as he played a defensive game in his first Test, but also hit those boundaries – 13 innings and 6 innings .
Before the left-hander was out, none of the Indian bowlers could give Zakir trouble except Umesh Yadav in a post-lunch spell with old Kookaburra.
Umesh (15-3-27-1), in the post-lunch game, hit a nice pitch with old Kookaburra to reverse the odd ball. Some of the deliveries Zakir decided to leave behind may have been successful, but he got lucky.
In fact, Umesh was also involved in drawing first blood after Zakir and Shanto’s record opening match.
Umesh ended Shanto’s 156-ball bounce with a more rounded delivery off the stumps and found the left-handed opener poking it indecisively. Shanto might still have gotten lucky when the ball bounced off the hands of first outfielder Kohli, but Pant swooped full left and caught it on the second try.
The second over was important for India as it ran just 52 and three wickets shattered what Bangladesh could have had as a cold dream.
Zakir and Santo played with purpose in the first period, though, as their gritty half-centuries helped Bangladesh reach an unbeaten 119 before lunch.
The two southpaws showed more utility on a track that looked good for hitting.
Incidentally, the century plus between Zakir and Shanto was the highest of any opening pair against India in the Test match.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from syndicated feeds.)
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