India have taken firm control of the first Test match against Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Recovering from 3 for 48, the Men in Blue eventually ended up posting 404 runs. While half-centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer were the highlights of Day 1 for Team India, on the second day even though the team lost Shreyas early, India managed to add 126 more runs to their overnight score.
R Ashwin and Kuleep Yadav added 87 runs for the 8th wicket which helped India regain a position of dominance. While Ashwin made 58 off 113, Kuldeep also chipped in with 40 runs off 114 balls. However, this was not the most significant contribution in the day for the left-arm leg-spinner. The 28-year-old returned to take 4 wickets with the ball for 33 runs and put Bangladesh in a massive spot of bother.
His scalps included Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Nurul Hasan and Taijul Islam. He along with Mohammed Siraj, who too finished Day 2 with superb figures of 3/14, broke the backbone of Bangladesh batting as they ended Day 2 on 133/8, still trailing India's total by 271 runs. This implies that the home team need a further 72 runs to avoid follow but only have 2 wickets remaining.
Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh
For Bangladesh, it was the duo of Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz who picked 8 wickets between them. The left-arm spinner sent back 4 Indian batters for 133 runs. On the other hand, the right-arm off break bowler Mehidy Hasan Miraz also picked 4 wickets for 112 runs.
Miraz now will have to shoulder responsibility with the bat the potential of which he showed in the ODI series. At Stumps on Day 2, it was Miraz and Ebadot Hossain who went back as an unseparated pair, having already added 31 runs off 54 balls.