Virat Kohli slammed his fourth double century in the one-off Test match against Bangladesh and became the first batsman to score four tons in four successive Tests in cricket history.
Advertisement
But the highlight of the day was a 178-run second wicket partnership between Vijay (108) and Cheteshwar Pujara (83) which served as a harsh introduction for Bangladesh in their first ever Test in India.
Tamin Iqbal (24) and Mominul Haque (1) were at the crease when the umpires dislodged the bails for the day. Rahane though could not complete a century, falling for 82 after a magnificient diving catch by Mehedi Hasan Miraz at short cover off Taijul Islam. But by setting 200 as his own benchmark and achieving it four times in four series, as Kohli has done in the Hyderabad Test match against Bangladesh, the India captain has challenged frontiers few other cricketers have reached. Rahane has a century in New Zealand, England, Australia, India and West Indies. However, the Indian bowling attack is much experienced and has more quality.
He was given out after getting wrapped on the pads by Mehedi and it looked very close.
After Umesh (2/33) bowled three overs from the pavilion end (the Shivlal Yadav End), Kohli cleverly switched him to the far end (VVS Laxman) from which he bowled another 6 overs at a stretch. “We have scored almost 600 in New Zealand, so we need to believe”.
IST: The second day’s play only managed to bring 4 wickets, that just shows how good the pitch is for batting. Ravindra Jadeja too will have a huge impact on the game as the ball gets old.
So uninspired were the visitors that it seemed as though they were waiting for a declaration during the last hour of India’s first innings in Hyderabad yesterday. India’s two other 600-plus totals had cone against England at Mumbai and Chennai respectively.
Saha and Ravindra Jadeja kept the runs flowing with an unbeaten 118-run stand, during which Saha surpassed his hundred and Jadeja his half-century, before Kohli chose to declare with his side on 687/6.
Both Kohli and Rahane denied any inroads to the Bangladesh bowlers, who sweated it hard throughout the day on a wicket which gradually slowed down as the innings progressed.
Vijay brought up his century off 149 balls, including 11 fours and a six.
Saha knew he was lucky after Mushfiqur missed, and felt the century was destined.
Advertisement
“Virat backs everybody. He encourages us to play our natural game”. He isn’t afraid to step out and hit either along the ground or over the top, has three variations of the sweep shot, and plays the square cut well.
