IND vs BAN 2nd Test: India eye unlikely Kanpur win after Jasprit Bumrah mastery and batting blitz

India eye unlikely Kanpur win after Jasprit Bumrah mastery and batting blitz (BCCI Photo)

Having made the final of the first two World Test Championships, and lost both, India are in pole position to reach another in June 2025. The likelihood of two teams overhauling them in the points table is slim to non-existent, but with an arduous five-Test series away in Australia to come at the end of the year, the aim was to make qualification certain during the home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

The weather and poor facilities at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur looked to have scuppered that plan, with only 35 overs of play possible over the first three days. But such is India’s confidence in the red-ball format that they produced a dominant performance on day four to keep alive slim hopes of a result in the second Test against the Tigers.

Jasprit Bumrah led the way with the ball as Bangladesh, who had resumed on 107/3, were bowled out for 233, before a blistering batting display saw India declare 52 runs in front after just over a session of batting. As the shadows lengthened, Bangladesh had to negotiate a nervous 11-over passage of play. That was long enough for the redoubtable R Ashwin to trap Zakir Hasan plumb in front, and bowl Hasan Mahmud, the nightwatchman, as he went for an ambitious heave.

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A generation ago, Gautam Gambhir, currently team India coach, and Virender Sehwag both scored Green Park centuries as India romped to 233 off just 40 overs at the start of a Test against Sri Lanka (2009). But what Gambhir’s wards produced was batting on fast-forward, even in this age of Bazball. The scoreboard showed 100 in just 10.1 overs – the fastest on record – after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma added 55 in just 3.5 overs.

Rohit’s 11-ball 23, studded with three huge sixes, set the tone, while Jaiswal smashed 12 fours and two sixes in a 51-ball 72 before Mahmud sneaked one through his defence. Shubman Gill contributed 39, and though Rishabh Pant fell cheaply, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul added 87 in just 9.5 overs to ensure that the run rate didn’t dip below 8.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz (4-41) and Shakib Al Hasan (4-78) kept picking up wickets as India lined up the big shots, and Rohit called the batters in soon after Kohli (47 off 35 balls) and Rahul (68 off 43) had been dismissed. At the time of the declaration, India’s run-rate was a T20-like 8.22.

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Earlier, Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and company had chipped away as Bangladesh failed to cash in on excellent batting conditions. Mominul Haque batted superbly at one end, but with little support. The experienced Mushfiqur Rahim left one from Bumrah that clipped the top of off stump, while Litton Das was left stupefied as Rohit plucked one out of the air with his right hand after the batter thought he had thumped Siraj over the infield.

Shakib fell to an excellent tumbling catch from Siraj off Ashwin’s bowling, and it was left to Mehidy to add 54 with Mominul and take the score past 200. Mominul reached a richly deserved hundred (172 balls) soon after, but Bangladesh lost the last four wickets for just nine, leaving him stranded on 107. Ravindra Jadeja ended the innings with a caught-and-bowled, his 300th wicket in Tests. Of the seven Indians to reach that landmark, only Ashwin has a better average and strike-rate than the left-arm spinner from Jamnagar.

If Mominul and his teammates are to leave India with a face-saving draw, or better, they will need to show real defiance on the final day. The force is clearly with India, as they seek to wrap up the most improbable of wins in this interrupted Test.