India and Bangladesh faced off in the second and final Test at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on September 27, Friday. Unfortunately, only 35 overs were played on the opening day due to bad light and heavy rain, with Bangladesh reaching 107 for 3.
Notably, the toss was held up for an hour due to a wet outfield caused by a heavy downpour overnight. When the toss took place, India captain Rohit Sharma won and opted to bowl first. Remarkably, this was the first time India chose to field first in a home Test since 2015.
India fielded an unchanged XI in order to take advantage of the home conditions. Rohit noted that the pitch was barely soft and had more grass than the typical Kanpur pitch. The Indian skipper also mentioned that they did not perform well with the bat in the opening Test in Chennai and that the bowlers played a vital role in securing the win.
“We are going to bowl first. The pitch seems a bit soft, so we have to make early inroads and we want our three seamers to make use of it. We didn’t start well with the bat in the first game, but we found a way to score and the bowlers did the job. I expect no different here (fight from Bangladesh), we will be challenged but we have the experience to bounce back. Same team,” Rohit said at the toss.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, read the conditions quite differently. They said that they wanted to bat first anyway. They selected three spinners and made two changes from the last XI that lost to India by 280 runs.
Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh captain, said: “Happy to bat first, we wanted to bat anyway. As a batter if we get a start we have to score well. Hope our batters can score big today. Looks like a good wicket to bat on. New ball batting will be key though. Two changes. Nahid and Taskin aren’t playing. Taijul and Khaled are in.”
Ace India speedster Jasprit Bumrah started with three maidens, but he did not provide any breakthroughs for the hosts. Mohammed Siraj also struggled to find success against Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan in the initial overs. However, the Indian bowlers effectively restricted Zakir, who faced 20 balls without scoring.
Meanwhile, India took control after Akash Deep was introduced into the attack in the ninth over. On his third delivery, he had Zakir edging the ball to gully, where Yashasvi Jaiswal made a low catch.
After a few overs, Akash Deep struck again, getting Shadman’s inside edge and hitting him on the pad. The on-field umpire turned down the appeal and subsequently India decided to review the decision. Surprisingly, the review showed the ball hitting a substantial part of the leg stump and the umpire overturned the decision.
A light drizzle began as the last over before lunch unfolded, delaying the second session by 15 minutes. Ravichandran Ashwin, Player of the match in Chennai, quickly made an impact as the play resumed. The veteran bowled from around the wicket and trapped Shanto lbw for 31, ending the 51-run partnership with Mominul Haque for the third wicket.
After heavy rain began, the umpires were prompted to call off play just before 3 PM local time. Mominul, who is unbeaten at 40, and Mushfiqur Rahim with a score of 6*, will resume Bangladesh’s innings on Day 2.
