Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on the Bangladesh batters for the lack of application they showed on Day 5 of the second and final Test match at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. Despite eight sessions being lost in the Test match due to rain and a wet outfield, India managed to beat Bangladesh with more than a session to spare on the final day. While India’s tremendously aggressive batting in their first innings, which saw them break the record for the fastest team 50, 100 and 200 in the history of Test cricket and the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin deserves a lot of credit but the poor shot selection from the Bangladeshi batters cannot be ignored.
“I thought that maybe they forgot this is a Test match. There are plenty of days, and this is, of course, the last day,” said Gavaskar on air. “Some of the shots that we saw… from Shanto — you’re right, when the shot comes off, it looks brilliant. When it doesn’t come off, you have to think, what have you tried to do?”
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto played a reverse sweep in the first over Ravindra Jadeja when he and Shadman Islam were batting in the middle. There was no second line of defence and the ball crashed onto the leg stump. That wicket triggered a collapse. Moments later, Shadman, who had just reached his half-century just a while ago, flashed at a wide one from Akash Deep to provide a sharp catch to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully.
Gavaskar pointed out that Shadman Islam should have taken more responsibility after being the first Bangladesh opener to hit a half-century on Indian soil. “Then Shadman after reaching his half-century, playing a loose shot outside the off stump, these are things where he could have capitalised and gone on to get a hundred.”
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Resuming the day at 26/2, Bangladesh were bowled out for 146. For India, pacer Jasprit Bumrah and spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets apiece.
Needing 95 for victory, India reached 98-3 in just 104 balls in the second session to win the match by seven wickets and take the series 2-0.
“To be honest we had to think a lot to keep the game moving forward,” said skipper Rohit Sharma.
“When we came on day four, we wanted to get them out as early as possible and see what we can do with the bat.”
Jaiswal reached his second fifty of the match in 43 balls, including eight fours and one six, before falling to Taijul Islam, ending a 58-run stand with Virat Kohli.
Former captain Kohli hit 29 and was there at the end as Rishabh Pant hit the winning boundary.
Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz had earlier removed Rohit, for eight, and Shubman Gill, for six.
The series victory extends India’s lead at the top of the World Test Championship rankings ahead of Australia in second.
