It didn’t take a complete session for India to bowl out Bangladesh and secure a 280-run victory on the fourth day. The tourists collapsed from 205/5 to 234/10, with the two spinners—Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja dominating the second half of the first session. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto showed resilience with 82 runs, batting superbly against the spinners, but he was fighting a lone battle to deny the inevitable.
India approached the game differently today. They didn’t start with Ravichandran Ashwin in the first session, despite two left-handers at the crease and the pitch offering enough assistance with footmarks in play. Instead, Jadeja was brought into the attack early and challenged both Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan. The southpaws took their chances to score boundaries through sweep shots against Jadeja, aiming to unsettle him, but to no avail. Shakib received a reprieve on 17 when he danced down the track against Jadeja, and Pant missed a stumping opportunity.
Bumrah and Siraj kept things tight, beating the outside edge on several occasions, but the two southpaws refrained from any extravagant shots against the pace duo. Siraj, in particular, looked the most threatening, challenging Shanto’s outside edge repeatedly. Despite bowling a probing spell, he was unfortunate not to take a wicket; sometimes luck just doesn’t favour you.
After the drinks break, Ashwin took the ball and quickly made an impact, igniting a massive collapse. Having taken three wickets yesterday, he claimed three more today, while Jadeja matched him with three wickets of his own, sealing the match. Although Bangladesh fought hard, their efforts were overwhelmed by the turn, bounce, and India’s skill and experience, proving too much to handle.
The margin of victory perhaps exaggerated the gap between the sides—the key difference was Ashwin. First, his hundred and a 199-run partnership helped India recover after they were cornered at 144/6, and then the off-spinner took six wickets to dismantle Bangladesh’s batting line-up in the fourth innings.
The series now moves to Kanpur for the second and final Test, which will be a must-win for Bangladesh to level the series. For India, the focus will be on maintaining their process to secure another comfortable series win.
Brief scores: India 376/10 (Ravichandran Ashwin 113, Ravindra Jadeja 86; Hasan Mahmud 5/83) & 287/4 (Shubman Gill 119*, Rishabh Pant 109; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 103) vs Bangladesh 149/10 (Shakib Al Hasan 32, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 27*; Jasprit Bumrah 4/50) & 234/10 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 82, Shadman Islam 35; Ravichandran Ashwin 6/88, Ravindra Jadeja 3/58). India won by 280 runs.