India's batter KL Rahul plays a shot during the fourth day of the 2nd Test cricket match between India and Bangladesh, at the Green Park stadium, Kanpur.
Credit: PTI Photo
Kanpur: When the fourth day’s play began following two successive days of cancellation, one wondered what the motivation for India would be. Just 35 overs were possible on the opening day and the remaining two days would be extremely tough to achieve a result despite their utter dominance at home.
The pitch at Green Park was still good for batting and Bangladesh were resuming at a decent 107/3. But this Indian team is a different beast altogether, especially at their own backyard, and they caught an unsuspecting Bangladesh by surprise to give themselves a great chance of forcing a result that appeared improbable following no play for two days.
First the bowlers produced an incredible performance to bowl out Bangladesh for 233 in 74.2 overs, an hour into the second session. Fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah (3/50) and Mohammed Siraj (2/57) bents their backs and worked magic with the ball and with the fielding too being outstanding — Rohit Sharma and Siraj pulled off incredible catches — Bangladesh folded up quite meekly with only Mominul Haque (107) offering a spirited fight.
The Indians then came out all guns blazing that rattled Bangladesh. It was a storm Bangladesh never saw coming and they were blown away by it. With this Test a part of the World Test Championship cycle, India knew a win here would not only strengthen their position at the top but give them some breathing space against New Zealand at home and Australia away.
They approached their first innings like a T20 game and adopted a hell for leather approach with batter after batter going for big shots right from the time they took strike. Yashasvi Jaiswal (72, 51b, 12x4, 2x6) and under-fire KL Rahul (68, 43b, 7x4, 2x6) smashed blistering half-centuries while Rohit (23), Shubman Gill (39) and Virat Kohli (47) played for the team’s cause with quick knocks as India scored 285/9 in just 34.4 overs before declaring with about 45 minutes left for the day.
Indian batters’ collective explosiveness was the kind Test cricket has rarely seen. Yes, some teams have batted at a fast rate in the second innings but to bat consistently at little over 8 runs an over in the first innings in a bid to enforce a result was extraordinary.
The tone for the all-out assault was set by Jaiswal and Rohit and it percolated until No. 7 Akash Deep who struck two towering sixes. Jaiswal kick-started the carnage by smashing pacer Hasan Mahmud for three consecutive boundaries in the very first over.
Skipper Rohit then went one better, greeting pacer Khaled Ahmed with two massive sixes. The first he danced down like he would for a spinner and the second was a stand-and-deliver six. Rohit capped the over with a four as 17 runs came in 2 overs.
India, despite losing wickets in clutches, never once lifted their foot off the pedal as they kept speeding along like a Formula One car. The loss of wickets were considered like pit stops, the goal being to surpass Bangladesh as early as possible and try and have a second crack at the Tigers. India became the fastest to score team 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 with Bangladesh unable to rein in the mayhem despite having six men patrolling the boundary line.
When Bangladesh were summoned to bat for a second time, they faced a severe test of character. The wind had been knocked out of their sails and the Indians were smelling blood. They resisted for a while but the guile of Ashwin saw them being reduced to 26/2, India ahead by 26 runs and in a good position to seal a 2-0 win.