Bangladesh fought hard but Virat's India were just too strong

India have extended their unbeaten run, stretching back to Sri Lanka in 2015, to 19 Tests. But let’s be honest here: was this win in any doubt when their one-off Test against Bangladesh began in Hyderabad?

The answer is a resounding no, and India put in a fairly professional-enough performance to back up the feeling.

Did anyone expect this match to go to the fifth day? Perhaps not but after getting a good look at the nature of the flat pitch on day one, one was pretty sure that Bangladesh would get ample chance to fight. And fight on they did, dragging their second innings to tea on the final day.

“It was quite tough in the second innings. India have a lot of options in bowling, spinners and fast bowlers both. I am really proud of my team. We batted more than 100 overs in each innings. Hopefully we can capitalise on that,” said skipper Mushfiqur Rahim after the match ended.

The start of something new

Indeed, this one-off Test should not be looked upon just as a poignant moment in Bangladesh’s history. It should instead be the start of something new, a fresh journey where learnings from past experiences are made part of plans and executed on the field. This is a team that scored 500-odd in New Zealand, and has now stretched India into the fifth day, one session short of a draw. On the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, they need to go one better.

For India, the spark seen in the attack in the morning session on day four was missing. Perhaps, because there was certain inevitability about the result. And yet it is not to say that India were lethargic. No, as for much of this Test, they did just enough to win, never getting out of third gear in summation.

This ability to cruise against certain opposition, and change gears when needed, is what makes a champion team. Make no mistake, India are one at the moment, carrying forward an unbeaten run that has now spanned nearly 18 months. Sure, cynics will say that most of it has been at home, in familiar conditions, wherein India only need to score big and unleash their spinners.

But is that really true? The real strength of this Indian team has not been the home conditions. Rather it has come down to the hard yards put in by their pace bowlers.

A combined effort

“This streak is not down to 2-3 players. It is a combined effort. Take for example the England series. The contribution of the fast bowlers stood out. There was so much focus on the spinners, but I thought the difference between the two sides were the pacers, to be honest. These are things that go unnoticed. Guys who have man of the match performances are usually in focus than guys who don’t have those performances. If you put it in the context of the game they get two set batsmen out and the whole game opens up for the guy who becomes man of the match,” said Virat Kohli after the match.

In light of his words, this Test was been played out in reverse. Sure, Kohli won the man-of-the-match for his scintillating double hundred off only 240 balls. But the bowlers put in the real donkeywork – in particular the pacers – toiling for nearly 230 overs on a placid track to take 20 Bangladesh wickets. And is not Test cricket all about taking those 20 wickets?

Umesh Yadav bowled a peachy spell in the first innings especially getting the ball to reverse and Shakib Al Hasan had no clue what to do about it. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the ball to move on a pitch where the grass didn’t do anything at all. Ishant Sharma started off slow, but post lunch on this day five he was steaming in and rattled their set batsmen with fiery pace.

A lot of these performances can be built-up over this past season, and even stacked up against the last 18 months. Yadav in Chennai, Rajkot and Delhi (against South Africa last year); Kumar in Kolkata and St. Lucia (against West Indies); Ishant Sharma in Jamaica; Mohamed Shami, currently out recuperating, was ever present from the West Indies tour until the England series.

“The quality of our spinners allows our fast bowlers to attack because of the way spinners bowl and contain runs, the pacers can really attack as soon as it starts reverse swinging,” Kohli added, in praise of his bowling attack.

If this match served as a glorified warm-up for the four-Test series against Australia, then the Kangaroos have already been served notice. They need to guard against not just Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja — the entire bowling unit is dangerous.

The gauntlet has been thrown down, once again. Now, it is up to Steve Smith and company to try and stop this juggernaut. It clearly won’t be easy.