India and Bangladesh are currently playing the first Test of their two-match series in Chattogram. India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bat first at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhary Stadium. The decision proved costly for India as they lost three wickets for 85 runs before lunch. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan had said after losing the toss that the wickets generally fall more in the first session of Day 1 and then in the final sessions of Days 3, 4, and 5.
Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam provided the breakthrough as he dismissed Shubman Gill for 20 off 40 balls in the 14th over. Taijul then removed former India captain Virat Kohli for just 1 run right after KL Rahul was clean bowled by Khaled Ahmed for 22 off 54 balls. Kohli was dismissed in the 20th over after the delivery from Taijul hit him on the pads as he attempted to play it on the back foot. What angered the fans more was that Kohli wasted a review by deciding to go upstairs.
With the dismissal, Kohli’s struggles against spin have once again taken centerstage as he has been getting out to each variety of spin that he has faced in the past year. Most of these dismissals have come when Kohli has gone too deep into his crease. In the first Test against Bangladesh, Kohli was dismissed while trying to play the delivery from Taijul on the back foot. Stats show that Kohli is a much better player against spin than against pace but his recent struggles have put a big question mark on his technique.
As far as the match is concerned, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer are currently intact in the middle at scores of 59 and 45 runs, respectively. Earlier, Rishabh Pant was dismissed for 46 off 45 balls by Mehidy Hasan Mirza. India are currently batting at 195/4 in 61 overs. While Taijul has picked two wickets, Khaled Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan each scalped one wicket to their names. The two Test matches against Bangladesh are very important for the Indian side as they can only afford to lose one match if they want to play the World Test Championship final next year. India are slated to play a four-match series against Australia before the WTC final.
Image: Twitter