Cricket – India took a little over three days to bring Bangladesh down to earth, dishing out a 280-run hammering in the series opener yesterday to maintain their formidable home record.
Bangladesh arrived fresh from a 2-0 series sweep in Pakistan earlier this month but in India they confronted rivals they had not beaten in their previous 13 attempts.
India captain Rohit Sharma was pleased with the strong start to a season that also includes three home tests against New Zealand and five in Australia.
“I thought it was a great result, looking at what lies ahead for us,” Rohit said.
“Yes, we’ve been playing after a long time but you’re never out of cricket ... It was just about getting together as a group, which we did.
Playing a test match after more than six months, the only time India looked in discomfort was when their top order wobbled on a lively red-soil strip at the M A Chidambaram Stadium.
India’s go-to spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were always going to play a crucial role but few expected it to be with the bat.
Their epic seventh-wicket partnership of 199 in the first innings powered India from a precarious 34-3 to a commanding 376 and control of the game.
In their second innings, Rishabh Pant celebrated his return to test cricket with a belligerent hundred while Shubman Gill put a first innings duck behind him with an unbeaten century.
Bangladesh managed 149 and 234 with skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (82) waging a lonely, futile war.
Shanto has demanded a better batting display from his team in the second and final test in Kanpur next week but praised the performance of seamers Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana.
India have retained the same squad for the second test.
&uuid=(email))