We bowled too many short balls: Taskin

Playing the top-ranked side in their own den is a daunting enough task, but it was made all the more difficult when India won the toss and Bangladesh’s bowlers were running in on a placid wicket. 

The score of 356 for three with centuries from Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli after the first day’s play at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad is not a surprise, but fast bowler Taskin Ahmed -- who along with left-arm spinner Taijul Islam was the best bowler on display -- felt that they could have done better.

“Today we bowled too many short balls,” said the young fast bowler who is leading the attack in only his third Test. “Maybe that’s why there were so many runs, maybe because we bowled short balls in new Zealand. The two conditions are different. Hopefully we will be able to recover tomorrow.”

Much like during the New Zealand tour, Bangladesh were guilty of creating opportunities but not seizing them. The most costly of them proved to be the comical let-off that India opener Vijay benefited from when on 28. Both Pujara and Vijay were stranded at the striker’s end after the latter had played a ball to square leg and a good stop from Kamrul Islam Rabbi was utterly wasted when bowler Mehedi Hasan Miraz fumbled a weak throw that reached him on the half volley when the rushing Vijay was still yards out of the crease. 

“If that run-out had taken place we could have had 5-6 wickets instead of three,” Taskin said. “Catch misses and run-out misses are part of the game.”

Taskin was very impressive in the morning with the new ball, keeping a tight line and length and bothering the batsmen with pace. He picked up in the first over of the Test when KL Rahul inside-edged a drive onto his stumps. He stressed on the need for patience on a good batting pitch when they take the field tomorrow.  

“In the first hour it was moving a bit but after that it was a dry and flat wicket. Our bowlers bowled well but they also batted well... sometimes flawlessly. If we can bowl them out within 450 runs then it will be good for us,” hoped Taskin.