IND vs BAN: India have tightened their grip on the first Test in Chennai, putting Bangladesh on the backfoot with a brilliant performance on the day 1 &2

September 21, 2024 Modified date: September 21, 2024

India VS Bangladesh — IND vs BAN IMG SRC: Hindustan Times

IND vs BAN: India have tightened their grip on the first Test in Chennai, putting Bangladesh on the backfoot with a brilliant performance on the days 1 &2: After scoring 376 in the first innings, Jasprit Bumrah-led India bundled out Bangladesh for just 149, taking a crucial lead.

Instead of enforcing the follow-on, India decided to bat again, aiming to set a challenging target for the visitors.

On the third day, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant entertained with fluent strokeplay, which further demoralised Bangladesh as the session progressed.

The visitors seemed to be running out of energy, and there was a light-hearted moment when Pant jokingly requested Bangladesh to place a fielder on the leg side.

Preparing to face the next ball, Pant turned to Bangladesh captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto, and pointed to the vacant leg-side inner circle, asking him to place a fielder there.

Rishabh Pant Setting Bangladesh Field 😭😅

Ms Dhoni In 2019 WC Did The Same Vs Bangladesh 🥸 pic.twitter.com/5hJg4AOPeh
— Rishabhians Planet (@Rishabhians17) September 21, 2024

Incidentally, Rishabh Pant’s predecessor MS Dhoni had also done something similar during the ODI World Cup in 2019. Dhoni had stopped Sabbir Rahman and asked him to move the square leg fielder to his left.

Even then, Sabbir didn’t do it twice and didn’t even ask his captain Mashrafe Mortaza before removing the fielder. Earlier, Bangladesh had made a bright start to the match by deciding to bat after cloudy weather in Chennai.

They picked up three Indian wickets within just 36 runs and left the hosts at 144/6. However, they couldn’t take advantage of the momentum as local stars Ravichandran Ashwin (113) and Ravindra Jadeja (86) put on a brilliant partnership to put India back on track.

On the second day, Bangladesh batsmen looked helpless in front of India’s excellent pace bowling attack, with Jasprit Bumrah taking four wickets. Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep also took two wickets each, while Jadeja also took two wickets.

Although India got off to a poor start, losing skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal cheaply and then Virat Kohli also wasted a good start, but Gill and Pant kept the team’s momentum alive.