Tigers fall short after hard fight
Bangladesh had never come this close against India in Tests. But after almost two good sessions, where they first staged a fight with the bat and then with the ball on Saturday, Bangladesh came very close to their first-ever Test win against India.
The late fightback from the India tail ensured that the visitors snatched away the big chance, after Bangladesh created by picking up seven wickets, with a three-wicket win at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
The crowd that showed up at Mirpur were expectant in the morning session, there to witness history. Jaydev Unadkat had a close call in just the first the third delivery of the day, one Bangladesh reviewed before the nightwatchman survived with umpire's call.
Soon after, just like Shakib Al Hasan had given the first wicket at the start of India innings on Saturday, the ace all-rounder produced the first wicket in the morning session, getting Unadkat plumb leg-before.
Then Mehedi Hasan Miraz's straighter bamboozled the danger man Rishabh Pant, the ball sneaked in to help get a leg-before decision. The crowd pumped fist hoping for a historic win. And from six for 71, it quickly became seven for 74 as Miraz castled Axar Patel, looking good on 34, to complete a fifer.
It was Bangladesh's game to win as the spinners piled on the pressure but India's in-form batter Shreyas Iyer and resilient Ravichandran Ashwin kept ticking the score with singles to inch closer to the 145 runs needed to win.
Perhaps Bangladesh missed a trick in introducing a pacer early in the morning session. But as the first hour went by, the sun and the old ball worked to India's advantage with the deliveries not skidding enough as it had done prior.
The pivotal moment was the dropped chance of Ashwin as Mominul Haque at short-leg let it slip and the 71-run unbroken stand between Iyer and Ashwin steered India past the finish line.
Shakib said there were no regrets after pushing India so far. "We fought for the whole Test. If we can keep hold of this mentality, I think the result will come in our favour in the future," the Bangladesh captain said at the post-match press conference yesterday.
Bangladesh managed just 227 in the first innings in good batting conditions. And although Shakib did not have any regrets on the first innings score, he regretted the fielding effort in India's first innings which saw missed opportunities.
"If these (fielding lapses) did not happen, maybe the score would have been 250 instead of 314. There were definitely chances in the second innings. But this is cricket. It is a bit disappointing because the other teams would not have missed the chances that we did," Shakib said.
Having beaten England and Australia at home, it was a golden opportunity for the Tigers to achieve a historic first win. Shakib further said that their latest performance will encourage fans to support them in Tests, even as something historic like Mount Maunganui win was not recreated.
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