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Sports News : Jasprit Bumrah proved once again why he’s considered to be one of the most lethal bowlers across world cricket, leaving Bangladesh’s Shadman Islam completely bewildered as he stumped his delivery where no one saw that it was going to come. On the second day of the first Test match between India and Bangladesh in Chennai, Bumrah’s bowling masterclass hounded the visitors from early times. By the end of the day, India took strong control of the match to reduce Bangladesh to a pathetic score, which marked the fall of Bangladesh.
Bumrah’s Deceptive Delivery: A Masterstroke
Bumrah’s first over in Bangladesh’s chase was nothing less than a work of art. With three slip fielders lurking behind Shadman Islam, the Bangladeshi opener had all the reasons to believe that Bumrah was going to bowl another out-swinger, similar to his previous deliveries from over the wicket. Shadman, expecting the ball to swing away from him, prepared himself to just let it leave.
But Bumrah never resorted to that on this occasion. He bowled around the wicket for the last ball of the over. That was what Shadman was not looking for-the craftsman in-swinger by Bumrah. Completely outfoxing the judgment of the batter, the ball curved into him sharply. The batter could do nothing but watch as the ball crashed into the stumps, leaving Bangladesh at 2/1 at the very end of the first over of their innings.
Indeed, Bumrah’s tactical initiative seemed to set the tone for what was to follow. For an opposing batting line-up, it is one thing to face experienced batsmen who have carried their team through to more than one instance of survival but quite another to take on those who are bound to disguise their balls so well that even they do not know when something special is going to happen or when. It was only the beginning of a long day for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s Collapse on Day 2: A Bowling Dominance
By tea, Bangladesh was still struggling at 112/8 with much still to be done to overtake India’s first innings total of 376. India’s bowlers showed great form on Day 2 after Bumrah’s strike in the early hours. In reply, Bangladesh could only add 149 runs and get bowled out short of the follow-on target.
India had the option to enforce the follow-on and it was left for captain Rohit Sharma to make a decision- bat again, building an unassailable lead, or quickly seal a win by batting fourth. The way he made this choice went on to be the strategy which best reflected India’s confidence in their bowling attack, knowing they could dismantle Bangladesh once again, at a time of their choice.
Akash Deep’s Impact: Double Blow Before Lunch
While Bumrah’s brilliance provided the setting for things to go awry, it was the man Akash Deep who scripted a crucial blow for the Indians on the eve of lunch, dismissing Zakir Hasan for 3 and Mominul Haque off successive deliveries. The board read 40-5 for the Bangladeshis as the young pacer scripted despair in already desperate times.
Although Mushfiqur Rahim denied Bumrah the hat-trick, his resistance came to an end soon after as he was given the third opportunity. Bumrah wrapped up the wicket of the seasoned batter for just 8 runs. The Bangladeshi innings continued to come apart as Bumrah fetched the third wicket before tea, strengthening India’s grip over the game greatly.
Sports News : Ravichandran Ashwin’s Century and India’s Strong First Innings
It was the Indian batsmen who provided a sound platform for India with a bold first innings of 376 runs as India’s bowlers later went on to wreak havoc on Bangladesh. And yes, the star of the show indeed was Ravichandran Ashwin, the man who came in handy for India with the bat, scoring a century of absolute class. His 113 helped stabilize India’s innings after initial setbacks in the form of early wickets.
Ashwin-Ravindra Jadeja combo marked a turning phase for the India innings. The duo hammered 199 runs for the sixth wicket, leaving the Bangladeshi bowlers frustrated and took India to a respectable total. With Ashwin’s watchful batting alongside Jadeja’s good batting, India could pull two back-to-back knocks after losing giant-killing wickets like Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli early in the match.
Yashasvi Jaiswal registers most half-centuries: By the end of the second over, Yashasvi Jaiswal was bowling over many Indian fans as he registered the highest number of half-centuries hit by any Indian batsman during the whole of a calendar year.
Amid all the hullabaloo surrounding the bowling superiority that India savored on day one of the Test, Yashasvi Jaiswal also hogged the headlines on the first day, making history, no less. It was a half-century well warranted for the young opener during an innings where India lost wickets at regular intervals. His innings helped in holding an end that can pull one’s team out of trouble and building partnerships with different batsmen- the night gave hope especially with Rishabh Pant supporting him after the senior men fell.
Jaiswal’s half-century ensured India got close to a very competitive total, but it had the added significance of joining an elite club in the record books. With this innings, Jaiswal became only the first cricketer in Test cricket’s 147 years to amass more than 750 runs in his maiden 10 innings at home. He broke a record which had held for a really long time, as West Indies great George Headley had achieved 747 runs all those years ago in 1935.
Fans React to Bumrah’s Bowling Masterclass
Jasprit Bumrah was pretty phenomenal on Day 2, to say the least. Indian cricket fans could hardly keep their reactions in over the flood of posts on various social media sites about how the bowler on that particular day provided in-swingers, which sent Shadman Islam back into his tent. Fans on X went ballistic about Bumrah’s on-field brilliance. A post from one fan read, “He is fire,” and another even went so far as to call him the “GOAT” (Greatest of All Time).
Many left stunned with the delivery that was there to leave Shadman stunned, as seen of one of the user’s comments, “What a delivery” and another says, “It’s never a good idea to let Bumrah go.”
Well it was just merit because Bumrah still makes him the scariest man in the world who can outfox batters with tricky deliveries.
India Chose Batting Again
It is surprising that despite Bangladesh being on the mat and India firmly dominating the match, Rohit Sharma went ahead to bat instead of enforcing the follow-on. India were considered likely to enforce the follow-on, especially since it wasn’t long ago when they faced a disastrous batting collapse in their opening innings. Pitch conditions, however must have something to do with it and possibly an effort not to get his bowlers tired.
An inviting approach by India was to start well, build on a big lead, and then make certain that Bangladesh would not come back from this point.
India saw to it that they remained in complete control of the match by giving their bowlers a break and capitalizing on an increasingly worn-out pitch.
Conclusion: India on top
On the last day of the second day of the first Test, India was a long way ahead of Bangladesh in this Test match. Totally crushing bowling coming from both Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep as well as Indian batsmen left Bangladesh with no chance at all in saving this game. First-innings lead stood massively in favor of the Indians with Bangladesh unable to put any resistance, leaving India perfectly positioned for a win with an easy margin.
It was Bumrah who presented one of the finer moments of match cricket by outsmarting Shadman Islam to dismiss him and, at other times, by using his guile to produce unplayable balls. Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal further claimed a half-century of records in this form of the game as his name once again went among India’s brightest young talents.
Bangladesh need to fix many things in their batting line-up if they want to stay with the best later on. India, one of the top teams in the world, showed all that makes them the number one team in both bowling and batting.
All would be keenly eyeing India’s next move as it seems to be pressing home their advantage, when the Test match rolls on.