India vs Bangladesh live: Bumrah scores BAN’s first goal

India vs Bangladesh Live Score 1st Test, Day 2:

Ashwin and Jadeja helped India get on track on the first day at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. They finished the first day at 339/6 at stumps and laid a solid foundation ahead of the second day of the Test. Early wickets will be the deciding factor for Bangladesh’s impressive attack, whose first new-ball over had India reeling at 34/3. The second new ball will be available immediately for the Tigers on the second morning, and with the old ball being quite ineffective, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto will look to Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud to replicate their first burst and break the stand between Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

A seventh wicket would expose India’s tail, and Bangladesh will be hungry to take those wickets early and provide good batting conditions once they get into their innings. The pitch on day one had plenty to offer the pacers in the first session, with cooler temperatures in Chennai and good transport on the pitch. India will simultaneously look for the Ashwin-Jadeja duo to take the total close to 400, with the pair looking extremely comfortable in the final session. Ashwin made his sixth Test century in the penultimate over of the day, and all eyes will be on Jadeja to see if he can match his long-time spin partner with his side’s fifth century, hitting 86* overnight. Five more runs will also see the pair complete their 200-run partnership.

With the pitch already looking flattened, Bengalis will need another over from the pacers to open up the footprints on a pitch known for its turns. Ashwin expects turn and bounce to play a role as the match progresses, which could spell bad news for Bangladesh’s batsmen if India’s innings extends into the second day. For India, the game plan will be pretty simple as they will want to make sure they see the new ball and give themselves the opportunity to add more runs to the total. Similarly, Bangladesh will hope that the new ball will allow them to stop the bleeding, before taking advantage of the pitch with the bat before it starts to act too much.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh got off to a flying start with an excellent opening from Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud, who managed to keep the Indian openers calm and on the defensive from the start. Mahmud was able to take advantage of this, taking three big wickets in the first hour of play. Rohit Sharma was caught at second slip by his opponent, Najmul Hossain Shanto, before Shubman Gill was caught on the leg side by wicketkeeper Litton Das. Mahmud managed to score three runs for India with the big hit, prompting Virat Kohli to fish outside off stump and flick it to Das behind the stumps.

India were struggling in the first 10 overs, but Rishabh Pant was sent in for 5 to join Yashasvi Jaiswal. The pair saw India through to lunch without any further damage, as both counter-attacked and punished poor deliveries to stitch together a 62-run partnership in 99 balls. Pant fell soon after lunch, however, as a lazy cut shot to Mahmud forced him off after a very good start, having scored 39 on his return to the Test team for the first time since 2022. Jaiswal kept up the scoring pace and made his fifth Test half-century, but was unable to consolidate as Bangladesh’s young flame-thrower Nahid Rana found his edge and dismissed the left-hander for 56.

Bangladesh got their first wicket with spin soon after, when KL Rahul fell to Mehidy Hasan Miraz after a good clean catch at short leg by Zakir Hasan. Bangladesh looked favourites to wrap up the Indian batting with another wicket, but with the pitch softening up and becoming more comfortable for batting, the old Indian guard came in to save the day. Chennai native Ravichandran Ashwin and long-time Chennai favourite Ravindra Jadeja made most of their familiarity with the Chepauk pitch, joining forces to form a blistering partnership of 195 runs, and are still going strong. The duo particularly attacked spin, dropping Shakib Al Hasan and also finding plenty of runs against the pacers.

Joining forces at 144/6, Ashwin was the chief instigator as he adopted an attacking approach against the seamers and spinners. With the pitch settling down and the older ball not doing much off the pitch, the pair scored over 5 runs per over in the final session of the day. Ashwin made his sixth century in just 108 balls, in an innings that has seen 10 boundaries and two sixes so far.

Highlights from day two of the second Test between India and Bangladesh in Chennai:

– India resume at 339/6, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja looking to strengthen their 195-run partnership.

– Ashwin, not out on 102, would like to convert this century into a papa century

– His partner Jadeja, meanwhile, is aiming for his 5th century in tests

– The second new ball is expected to arrive soon and the Bangladesh pacers would be expecting a repeat of the first hour of Day 1 in the hope of wrapping up the Indian innings

– As for the Indian team, 400 seems to be an achievable score and enough to put Bangladesh under a lot of pressure.