Umesh capitalises on tricky Mirpur surface

Bangladesh faced another first innings debacle against India in the second Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday, getting bundled out for 227 after opting to bat first on a greenish wicket.

Having seen the green tinge on the pitch, India went for three pacers who managed to pick up six wickets between them, with veteran Umesh Yadav scalping four and Jaydev Unadkat, playing his first Test in 12 years, taking two.

Despite Unadkat's swing and control with the new ball, it was Yadav who lived up to his subcontinent credentials as he used his experience to bowl wicket-to-wicket, used his high release point to extract extra bounce off the Mirpur surface, and late in the day, got the ball to reverse.

The 35-year-old found swing early with the new ball but couldn't nick a wicket. But he used his experience, didn't look to try different things and kept it significantly tight from one end.

His perseverance paid off straight after Lunch when Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan tried to launch the pacer over mid-off but the ball gathered a bit of extra bounce as it hit high on Shakib's bat. The timing got messed up as the batter could only offer the easiest of chances to short mid-off.

For his second, Umesh nicked off Mehedi Hasan Miraz and reversed the ball into Nurul Hasan Sohan's pads to leave him dumbfounded before enticing Taskin Ahmed to a drive which resulted in him getting caught at point.

On a pitch that had a bit for the bowlers, Umesh perhaps identified the nature of the pitch the best but had enough game sense to not get carried away as he stuck to pretty much what he knows best- bowling tight lines to trap batters lbw and using the reverse later on to trouble batters.

The pacer, however, felt that it was a 50/50 kind of wicket that had something for both the pacers as well as the spinners but said he adjusted by sticking to his basics.

"I reckon it is a 50/50 kind of wicket. It's not favouring fully the fast bowlers or the spinners. Some deliveries are doing something and others are not," Umesh said.

"You have to keep patience and bowl in the right areas. Some deliveries kicked off the surface and some did not go anywhere," he added.

Asked whether he was happy to restrict Bangladesh under 300, Umesh admitted that it was a good effort from their side considering the nature of the wicket.

"I think it's a good performance to get them out for under 300 especially considering how the wicket is behaving now," Umesh said.