Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer pulled India out a hole on Wednesday to put their side in a strong position at 278-6 on the opening day of the first Test against Bangladesh.
Taijul’s early strikes
A double strike by Taijul Islam (3-84) including Shubman Gill for 20 and danger man Virat Kohli for one left the visitors on the back foot on 48-3. In between, stand-in captain KL Rahul had played on off Khaled Ahmed for 22. A gutsy 46 by Rishabh Pant helped steady the ship before Mehidy Hasan bowled the wicketkeeper-batsman after lunch.
Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam celebrates an Indian wicket
Pujara and Iyer then came together with India on 112-4 and made the bowlers pay. Rock-steady Pujara was bowled by Taijul for his third wicket of the day but not before he had grounded out a workmanlike 90 that included 11 fours. Wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan dropped Pujara off Ebadot Hossain on 12 in the second ball of the second session. Iyer remained unbeaten at the close on 82, while Axar Patel was out on the last ball of the day for 14, trapped leg-before as the second of off-spinner Mehidy’s two wickets.
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Pujara content with 90
“The way I was batting, and looking at the pitch, it’s not an easy pitch to bat on,” Pujara said. “So I am really happy with the way I batted today.” He added: “My partnership with Shreyas was very important and also with Rishabh once we lost three wickets…We had to build a partnership and put a decent total.” Iyer was also dropped on 67 and miraculously survived being bowled by Ebadot on 77 when the bails failed to dislodge, leaving the hosts ruing their missed chances. “We are in good position. Maybe we could have been in a better position if the catches were taken,” Taijul said.
Brief scores
India 278-6 (Cheteshwar Pujara 90, Shreyas Iyer 82*; Taijul Islam 3-84, Mehidy Hasan 2-71) v Bangladesh
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