Indore: Opener Mayank Agarwal scored his third Test century as India looked to seize complete control by reaching 303 for 3 at tea on the second day of the opening five-day match against Bangladesh here on Friday.
Courtesy Agarwal’s unbeaten 156 and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane’s undefeated 82, India now enjoy a commendable lead of 154 runs over Bangladesh after bundling out the visitors for a paltry 150 in the first innings.
Agarwal already has a double hundred in his kitty and once he reached 150, the TV cameras showed an elated skipper Virat Kohli pointing two fingers which indicated that he should carry on and hit another one.
The duo added 184 runs for the unbroken fourth-wicket stand after Kohli endured a rare failure with the bat, getting out for naught to Bangladesh’s best bowler Abu Jayed (3/73), who also happened to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara (54).
Playing with only four bowlers, Bangladesh paid the price as pacer Ebadot Hossain and left-arm spinner Taijul Islam were rendered ineffective by Agarwal-Rahane duo, who made batting look easy.
On a pitch where where the Bangladeshi batsmen struggled on the first day, Agarwal hit boundaries and sixes at will. He has so far hit 21 fours and three sixes.
In the post lunch session, the inside out six off Taijul (0/90 in 24 overs) was the shot to remember. Agarwal was also severe on Mehidy Hasan Miraj (0/75 in 20 overs), hitting him for a couple of sixes along with a few boundaries.
By the time Bangladesh took the second new ball, there were drooping shoulders all around, a signal that they have already resigned to fate. The energy level on the field also saw a significant dip.
Rahane, who is in fine form since the tour of the West Indies, also brought in his years of experience en route his 21st Test half-century. He also reached an individual milestone, scoring 4000 runs in his 62nd Test match. His innings so far was studded with eight boundaries.
Having flayed the Bangladesh attack that mostly looked pedestrian, Agarwal and Rahane will be aiming to build on the lead so that India can wrap it up within three days, considering the brittle batting line-up of the opposition.
However, it was a disappointing Friday morning for the 10,000-odd spectators, who had come to watch skipper Kohli. He was dismissed by seamer Abu Jayed for a duck.
Early into the innings, Jayed bowled an off-cutter and then got a successful DRS appeal for leg before, denying the Indian captain an opportunity to trouble the scorers.
In the morning, Jayed was unlucky when Pujara was dropped by Mehidy at gully and the Saurashtra right-hander promptly square cut the next to complete his 23rd Test half-century.
But the drop didn’t prove costly as Jayed got him caught by substitute Saif Hasan at third slip after hitting nine boundaries.
PTI