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India vs Bangladesh: How Indian fast bowlers turned the heat on Bangladesh batsmen

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India vs Bangladesh: How Indian fast bowlers turned the heat on Bangladesh batsmen


The Chennai heat can be cruel. But not in September when it is usually pleasant with showers around the corner. But this year has been an exception with the mercury touching 33 degree Celsius even before play started on Day 2.

By the time India took the field half-way into the first session it was 37 degree Celsius, the real feel 45 as per weather apps. Through the afternoon at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the Indian fast bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah turned up the heat on the Bangladesh batsmen. They wilted — 149 all out in response to India’s 376.

Day 1 under gloomy skies, the Indian top order struggled before a rear guard by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja came to the rescue. The sun came out only at 4 pm. On Day 2 the sun was out from the start. But Ashwin, the centurion, had forewarned on Thursday that the pitch could speed up under the rays of the sun. Like on the first day, the fast bowlers reaped rewards though the Indians bowled in less helpful conditions.

Captain Rohit Sharma factored in the heat and gave each pacer not more than four overs on the trot.

Keeping them fresh helped them to attack more and strike regularly as India took full control of the first Test. In the second innings India were at 81/3, a lead of 308 runs.

In a sense it is an unusual Chepauk pitch too. Seventeen of the 20 wickets in the first innings were scalped by fast bowlers. Not since the late 70s have fast bowlers been so effective at this venue. Back then in successive Pongal Tests in 1979 and 1980, against West Indies and Pakistan, pacers had taken 14 wickets in the first two innings. But since then the pitches here have mostly favoured the spinners with designer ones with selective watering being the norm.

However, ahead of this Test, the curators rolled out one that ensured spinners didn’t come into play early in the game on the red-soil surface.

With five left-handers in top 6, it was all easier for the Indian bowlers to get used to a line. Against India’s pace pack, whose natural angle is taking the ball away, they had to be as compact and show the application to survive. But Bangladesh batsmen were not upto the task.

And it was Bumrah – who else – who started the slide in the very first over. In home conditions, he is known to be most effective with the older ball (when it is 25 overs plus) when reverse-swing begins. But here, he needed to be different while factoring in the conditions. And the genius that he is, he found a way.

Bumrah delivers

Having sent down five successive out-swingers from over the wicket, he changed the angle for the last delivery. And Shadman Islam, who had constructed a patient 93 against Pakistan while overcoming Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, shouldered arms to the one that pitched on the off-stump channel and held its line to see the ball knock into the off-stump.

And once Bumrah’s first spell ended, Rohit brought on Akash Deep. Like his fellow Bengal seamer Mohammed Shami, Akash’s strength lies in his seam position and the movement. In his second over he effected two telling blows. First up, he breached Zakir Hasan’s defence with a delivery that cut back in and uprooted the middle-stump. Off the next delivery, Mominul Haque was beaten for pace as the ball thudded onto the back leg before crashing into the stumps.

Fresh at the start of the post-lunch session, Bumrah and Akash were relentless with their seam movement and Siraj had the wobble-seam to bank on. Unsure of which way the ball was going to move, Najmul Hossain Shanto hung his bat out and got an outside edge. And an over later, Bumrah served up the best of the afternoon to Bangladesh’s best batsman – Mushfiqur Rahim.

Having consistently hit the right areas on the pitch, this one from Bumrah angled in, making the batsman believe he had the angle covered. Instead, the 13-over old new ball would just move away and with the steep bounce accompanying it, Rahim could only edge it to second slip. At 40/5 Bangladesh innings was unravelling quickly.

Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das would then briefly keep the Indian fast bowlers at bay with a 51-run stand. Despite India’s attack giving absolutely nothing away, Shakib and Litton were prepared to play shots to try and break the shackles. They forced Rohit to change plans and go to the spinners for a breakthrough. Now it was spin from both ends but there was no real turn on offer. Yet both the batsmen fell quickly. Litton went for an expansive sweep only to top-edge it and Dhruv Jurel put in a dive from deep square-leg. And in his next over, Jadeja had Shakib with a bit of luck – the bottom edge bouncing off the foot. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant took the catch.

And once the two perished, Bumrah and Siraj returned to complete the job.





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