Before this Test Match began, there was a general feeling that was a pointless exercise. With the monsoon reaching its peak in Bangladesh during this time of the year, it was inevitable that this match could be largely affected by rain. As expected, the persistent rain across five days meant that only 184 overs of play were possible in the whole game.
Once the first session of the fifth day was washed out, a draw was foreseeable, but India gave a glimpse into the possibilities had this match not lost so many overs to rain by bowling Bangladesh out for 256 and enforcing a follow-on. In what was a damp and dreary draw, there were a very few things which kept one involved.
There was only one team which intended to go for the throttle, and it was India, rightly. It was evident in the two teams’ composition. Bangladesh decided to play eight batsmen and employed only one fast bowler, Mohammad Shahid, who was ineffective throughout the Indian innings. In what was a pleasant surprise and the dawn of a new era, Virat Kohli, India’s new Test captain, kept up his promise. He played five bowlers, comprising of Ravichandrin Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh, who was making a return to the Test team after two years. Kohli insisted that this young team led by him will always play a positive and aggressive brand of cricket and they certainly did that.
There were two performances that distinctly stood out. Shikhar Dhawan, who got a chance to play following KL Rahul’s illness, grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The 6-5 strategy, while enhancing India’s chances to pick up 20 wickets, also means that only the six best batsmen can make the XI. Has there been enough substantiation that Dhawan is the right man at the top of the order? Or should Rahul get his place back when he recovers from his illness? Can Cheteshwar Pujara double up as opener, if needed? Has Rohit Sharma done enough to keep his place in the side?
With four batsmen vying for two spots, India will need to solve this selection dilemma soon with a tour to Sri Lanka and a visit from South Africa awaiting them. On current form and looking at the conditions, it will be wise to back Shikhar Dhawan, who is a dangerous player in the subcontinent, and KL Rahul, who made a century in Sydney, in his last test match.
The other player who performed exceedingly well was Ravichandran Ashwin. When asked about his lead spinner’s performance, Kohli said, “He’s priceless, to be honest. In a subcontinent Test match, you won’t get any better than him. He can bowl at right-handers, at left-handers; he can deceive people with pace, with spin, with bounce. I mean you name it and he has it. He understands the game well. As a captain, you don’t need to tell him much because he’s very clear about what he wants to do, and I’m pretty confident of his contribution in the coming season, and he’s pretty geared up as well. He’s going to be really important for us.”
Ever since the second Test match in Australia, Ashwin has been bowling really well. In tough conditions for spinners, Down Under, Ashwin was one of the best spinners in the World Cup as well, and was influential in India’s commendable performance in the tournament. He has been high on confidence and that showed during this test match. He was able to assess the pitch quickly, the batsmen’s weaknesses in double that time, plan his traps and spring them.
The confidence he had was exemplified when he was displeased at the placement of a deep cover towards the dying stages of the fifth day and demanded he stride back inside the circle. R Ashwin’s bowling figures in the first innings were 5-87, his best in a Test outside India. This was his tenth five-wicket haul in albeit a short career.
Virat Kohli’s captaincy inspired a lot of confidence. Kohli is not known as a man who takes a backward step. And he has a simple reason: “We want to play that sort of cricket. When I captained in my first Test in Adelaide too, I had the same thought process, that we should play aggressively and give ourselves a chance to win the game. You enjoy the game when you play like that. I think, as a team, it’s very important to have that intensity and attitude especially when we are fielding. Because that is the one time when all 11 players are together and you get the true sense of being a team. We have that understanding in the team that we need to maintain intensity in the field at all times, regardless of the conditions, the pitch, or the situation. Because I can think something, but if players don’t respond then it’s useless. We are all on one page, and in sync. It’s a good thing and if we keep building that we’ll get even stronger.”
Although India dropped to fourth in the ICC rankings, they can take a lot of confidence from this performance, ahead of tougher tasks like the tour to Sri Lanka and the home series against South Africa.
