Once the first session of the final day was washed out, the draw was inevitable, but India gave a glimpse into the possibilities had this match not lost 248 overs to rain by bowling Bangladesh out for 256 and enforcing a follow-on. Though he couldn’t help India avoid slipping to fourth in the ICC rankings thanks to this draw, the most impressive player of the match, R Ashwin, registered his first five-wicket haul outside India. Bangladesh will be disappointed their first innings lasted only 65.5 overs on a pitch that India batted comfortably and lost wickets only when their batsmen went out of their way to score quick runs.
The final day’s play began with Bangladesh needing 152 to avoid the follow-on with seven wickets in hand. A maximum of 67 overs could have been bowled on the day. Had Bangladesh batted sensibly they would have avoided the drama of having to bat again and hanging in grimly. Confronted with some excellent bowling from Ashwin but little else, Bangladesh failed to do so although theirs was a general air of just having a good time without having to worry about the result because it had been ruled out. In a live Test they might well have shown more application.
Shakib Al Hasan fell manufacturing a cut, Imrul Kayes and Mohammad Shahid jumped out of the crease to Harbhajan Singh – all three of the returning offspinners’ victims were batsmen outside their crease – and Soumya Sarkar and others kept swinging away even when not quite in control of the shots. Ashwin, though, was in a different league, relying on his offbreak, getting it to drift and dip, drawing sharp turn and bounce, and brought some excitement into a match dulled by poor scheduling: the first in monsoon June in Bangladesh.
Even after Shakib fell early on in the day, the shots kept coming. Some of them came off – Sarkar managed an ungainly 37 – but they brought about wickets. The bright spot for Bangladesh was debutant Litton Das’ 44 off 45, but he too struggled as Ashwin drifted the ball away from him. After having found himself away from the pitch of the ball, Das eventually gloved one bouncing offbreak to backward short leg. Das’ wicket made it 232 for 8, and it was followed by a poor shot from Mohammad Shahid and poor running from Taijul Islam and Jubair Hossain.
Intent to give it every possible shot, Virat Kohli asked Bangladesh to bat again, but there was never going to be enough time to force a result. Hands were shaken the moment Bangladesh had batted out 15 overs in the second innings and the mandatory overs became due.
India 1st innings 462
Bangladesh 1st innings
Imrul Kayes st †Saha b Harbhajan Singh 72
Shakib Al Hasan c †Saha b Ashwin 9
Soumya Sarkar b Aaron 37
Litton Das† c RG Sharma b Ashwin 44
Shuvagata Hom c RG Sharma b Ashwin 9
Taijul Islam not out 16
Mohammad Shahid c Dhawan b Harbhajan Singh 6
Jubair Hossain run out (Ashwin/†Saha) 0
Extras (lb 9, nb 3) 12
Total (all out; 65.5 overs) 256
Fall of wickets 1-27 (Tamim Iqbal, 5.6 ov), 2-108 (Mominul Haque, 27.5 ov), 3-110 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 28.5 ov), 4-121 (Shakib Al Hasan, 32.4 ov), 5-172 (Imrul Kayes, 47.2 ov), 6-176 (Soumya Sarkar, 48.1 ov), 7-219 (Shuvagata Hom, 57.2 ov), 8-232 (Litton Das, 61.2 ov), 9-246 (Mohammad Shahid, 65.1 ov), 10-256 (Jubair Hossain, 65.5 ov)
Bowling
I Sharma 7-0-24-0, R Ashwin 25-6-87-5, UT Yadav 7-0-45-0, VR Aaron 9-0-27-1, Harbhajan Singh-17.5-2-64-3
Bangladesh 2nd innings (following on)
Tamim Iqbal not out 16
Imrul Kayes not out 7
Extras 0
Total (0 wickets; 15 overs; 46 mins) 23
Did not batMominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim*, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das†, Shuvagata Hom, Jubair Hossain, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Shahid
Bowling
UT Yadav 2-1-4-0, R Ashwin 6-2-8-0, Harbhajan Singh 5-2-11-0, M Vijay 1-1-0-0, S Dhawan 1-1-0-0
MATCH DETAILS
Toss – India, who chose to bat
Series – One-off match drawn
Test debut – Litton Das (Bangladesh)
Player of the match – S Dhawan (India)
Umpires – HDPK Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and NJ Llong (England)
TV umpire – Sharfuddoula
Match referee – AJ Pycroft (Zimbabwe)
Reserve umpire – Enamul Haque
