India thrashed Bangladesh by 188 runs in the first Test in Chittagong. With Australia having beaten South Africa inside two days in the first Test of their own series which is taking place at the same time, the result is a significant boost to India’s hopes of reaching the World Test Championship final again.
For the home side, it maintained an unwanted record of never having beaten the Indians in Test cricket. Based on this display, they are unlikely to change that any time soon.
Match Recap
India, captained by KL Rahul in the absence of the injured Rohit Sharma, won the toss and batted first, making 404, despite a rare failure from Virat Kohli, who was dismissed for just a single.
Cheteshwar Pujara top scored with 90, whilst Shreyas Iyer made 86. Ravichandran Ashwin made a half century, whilst Indian fans will have been glad to see Rishabh Pant find some form after his recent struggles with the bat by making 46.
Both Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam took 4 wickets apiece but they each conceded over 100 runs.
Already leading by 254 on first innings India decided not to follow on, but chose to bat again to press home their advantage.
Rahul and Shubman Gill put on 70 for the first wicket, and, when Rahul was out for 22, Gill shared a stand of 113 with Pujara for the second before he was dismissed for 110.
Pujara went on to complete his own century before India declared their second innings on 258/2, setting Bangladesh the notional victory target of 505.
At that stage, Pujara was 102 not out, and Kohli undefeated on 19.
That was always going to be beyond them, although they did make a better fist of their second innings than their first.
Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan, who was making his Test debut, gave them a good start with a partnership of 124 for the first wicket before Shanto fell for 67.
Hasan would go on to make exactly 100 and his captain Shakib Al-Hasan made 84, providing some staunch resistance with an innings that included six sixes and six fours, but the odds were always heavily stacked against the Bangladeshis, and they were eventually all out for 324.
Axar Patel took 4- 77, whilst Yadav chipped in with three more wickets in what was an excellent match for him personally. The game was all over within an hour of the restart on the fourth morning of the match.
Key Talking Points
India too strong with both bat and ball
India were just too strong for their opponents in this match with both bat and ball, even without Ravindra Jadeja making his expected return to the side.
Ashwin would normally expect to perform the role of senior spinner, but, in this match, he was happy to play second fiddle to Yadav.
Meanwhile, Pujara, who is sometimes criticised for being too defensive, was able to play with rare freedom on his return to international cricket.
The significance of the result
This win, coupled with the South African defeat to Australia, means that India have now leapfrogged the South Africans and have moved into second place in the WTC standings. If they can maintain this position, that would be enough to guarantee them a second successive final appearance.
Australia meanwhile have strengthened their grip on top spot.
With India due to host the Australians in the New Year, they would appear to be on course for the WTC final, especially if they can wrap up victory in the Second Test.
What happens next
The second and final Test will begin in Mirpur on Thursday December 22nd with India looking to preserve their record of never having lost a Test to Bangladesh.
Kuldeep Yadav has not always convinced in an Indian shirt but he was the star of their bowling attack on this occasion taking 5 – 40, whilst Mohammed Surag finished with 3 -20, as the home side were bowled out for just 150. The top scorer for Bangladesh was Mushfiqur Rahim who made 28.
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