For a change, Indian bowlers face dogged resistance from visitors led by captain Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan as they reach 322-6 at stumps on Day Three in reply to the hosts' first innings score of 687-6 declared
Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan lifts one over the leg-side on Day Three of the one-off Test against India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Hyderabad: Riding on three half-centuries — from Shakib Al Hasan (82), captain Mushfiqur Rahim (81*) and Mehedi Hasan (51*), Bangladesh showed some steel to end up with 322 for six at stumps on Day Three in the one-off Test against India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here in Uppal on Saturday. The visitors trail by 365 runs with four wickets remaining but showed that they are no pushovers.
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Mushfiqur Rahim. Pic/AFP
Current and former skipper — Rahim and Shakib — displayed contrasting skills but effectively tamed the strong Indian bowling, a rarity at home this season. Shakib played aggressively and hit 14 fours in his 103-ball knock and stayed at the crease for close to three hours. Rahim on the other hand, played 206 balls and hit 12 fours during his five hour stay at the crease. However, the skipper was responsible for stitching two very useful partnerships — 107 in 165 deliveries for the fifth wicket with Shakib and then an unbeaten 87 in 197 balls with No. 8 batsman Mehedi, who hit his maiden Test fifty.
Mehedi Hasan. Pic/AFP
Shaky start
The visitors were off to a shaky start in the morning, losing their top three batsmen with just 64 on board. The unnecessary run out of Tamim Iqbal (24), after a goof-up with Mominul Haque (12), made matters worse for Bangladesh. Though there was not much assistance for the seamers from the wicket, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bowled a probing line and length and made life miserable for the visiting batsmen. Yadav's reverse swing got rid of Mominul — caught plumb in front and a little later, Ishant did the same to Mahmudulla (28) with an inswinger. It was only after Shakib's arrival that things started moving for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's captain Mushfiqur Rahim (R) and Shakib Al Hasan. Pic/PTI
No spin in the tale
The most notable aspect of Bangladesh batting was the way Shakib, Rahim and Mehedi successfully tackled the Indian spinners for most part of the day. If India dominated both the New Zealand and England series recently, the spinners played a big role in it. Ashwin bagged 55 and Jadeja picked up 40 wickets in eight Tests that they both played before this. But their magic somehow didn't work at Uppal yesterday.
Here, Ashwin and Jadeja bowled 53 overs between them and bagged just two wickets, giving away 137 runs. Though Ashwin managed to send back danger man Shakib, caught by Yadav at long-off, and Jadeja trapped Sabbir Rahman lbw for 16, Bangladesh have managed to stonewall India for the time being.
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