Bangladesh failed to capitalise on several chances as India went into lunch on the first day of their one-off Test in Hyderabad on Thursday at 86/1, having lost only the wicket of opener KL Rahul.
Having won the toss and chosen to bat, India were watchful on a helpful surface. Rahul’s wicket fell off only the fourth ball of the day as he looked to play a loose drive away from his body to Taskin Ahmed but played on to his stumps. Mushfiqur Rahim’s team were cock-a-whoop at their early success.
Bangladesh’s pacers kept up their tight lines as India moved at a snail’s pace in the first five overs. Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay got the boundaries to give India a move on. They benefited from several lucky breaks though: at 25/1, Kamrul Islam Rabbi got Pujara to edge outside off but the ball bounced short of first slip with keeper Rahim not even attempting to go for the catch.
Mehedi Hasan Miraz then got both Pujara and Vijay to edge in his second over but unluckily both went to the boundaries. A few overs later, he was guilty of botching up a simple run-out chance. Vijay and Pujara were stuck at one and Vijay was miles away from his crease. Miraz only had to gather the throw and take the bails off but he failed to collect it cleanly giving India another chance.
Around all this, Vijay and Pujara played assured knocks, notwithstanding the chances. Now that the pitch has settled down, they will fancy themselves to knuckle down and get on to score a big one.
Brief scores
India 86/1 (Murali Vijay 45 not out, Cheteshwar Pujara 39 not out; Taskin Ahmed 1/17) vs Bangladesh
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