Having won the toss, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto opted to bowl first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. This, on a Chepauk wicket with assistance to the seamers owing to an uncharacteristic grass cover.

It was a decision that paid merits as early as the sixth over. A good length delivery around the off stump slightly seamed away and induced a nick off Rohit Sharma that was caught behind by Shanto at second slip.

It wasn’t too later that Shubman Gill, yet to open his account after seven deliveries, tried to flick a full delivery down the leg side, only to be pouched by Litton Das.

Virat Kohli was unable to stay in the middle for long either. While playing a length ball with soft hands was the undoing of Rohit, hard hands and chasing another delivery outside the off stump brought the end of his predecessor.

As the wickets kept falling at the other end, Yashasvi Jaiswal – India’s leading run scorer in the five-match Test series against England earlier this year – held the fort at the other. He was later joined by Rishabh Pant, who marked his comeback to the Indian Test team for the first time since December 2022.