Team India posted 278/6 on Day 1 of the first Test against Bangladesh, at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram. Opted to bat first, India started off on a bad note as they lost four wickets with only 112 runs on the board. However, Cheteshwar Pujara (90) and Shreyas Iyer (82*) stitched a 149-run partnership to propel Team India to a good total. Apart from them, Rishabh Pant made a contribution of 46 runs. In the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma due to a thumb injury, KL Rahul has been appointed as the stand-in captain for the ongoing Test series.
Rahul had addressed the media ahead of the first Test on Tuesday and stated that his side would be having an aggressive approach against Bangladesh as the series’ result would have its consequences on the qualification for the World Test Championship final.
“There is a Test championship (final) qualification so we will also have to be aggressive. We know where we stand and what we need to do to qualify for the final,” Rahul had said during the media interaction.
However, India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik completely disagreed with Rahul’s statement and said that Team India cannot adapt to England’s ‘Bazball’ style as the pitch at Chattogram is slow, which makes it difficult for the batters to show their attacking side.
“For me, as I said, it is very evident that these are kind of wickets that sometimes end up not producing a result. As the Test match carries on, the wear and tear makes it slow. If the quality of the batsmanship is not great, you will end up seeing batsmen make mistakes. If your temperament is strong, you won’t need a great technique to stay at the wicket. For starters, India cannot play the Bazball kind of cricket because right now, it’s not a part of our DNA to do something like that,” said Karthik on Cricbuzz.
“For KL Rahul to come out and say that they will play aggressive cricket basically means that they want to make a match out of it and get a result, knowing that the WTC final is around the corner and these two games become critical. They want to press the accelerator and push the scoring rate. They couldn’t do it today because the wicket is slow, and you have to bring a different tempo altogether and that will require a few players who bat that way,” he added.
Coming to the match, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer powered India to a strong 278-6 on the opening day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong on Wednesday.
Pujara hit 90 while Iyer remained unbeaten on 82, with both riding their luck. Axar Patel was out on the last ball of the day for 14, trapped leg-before as the second of off-spinner Mehidy Hasan‘s two wickets.
Taijul Islam, the most successful bowler for Bangladesh with 3-84, bowled Pujara to end a dogged innings that featured 11 fours. Pujara and Iyer came together after India lost their fourth wicket on 112, with signs of spin on the first-day track.
India have been hit by injuries, with captain Rohit Sharma out for at least the first match and fast bowler Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja playing no part in the series.
The two-match series forms part of the ICC World Test Championship. India are fourth, having won six of their 12 matches. Bangladesh are in last place with eight defeats from 10 matches.
With AFP Inputs
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