Champion mentality and multiple heroes: How India took wind out of high-flying Bangladesh's sails

In the sub-continent, and particularly in India, Test matches can be a slow burn for three days and then dramatically finish in the blink of an eye. There was no significant change to that script at Chepauk, even if the outcome of the match was obvious long before the final act.

Bangladesh arrived in Chennai brimming with confidence, the offshoot of their unexpectedly historic 2-0 sweep in Pakistan. From various tight corners, including the numbing depths of 26 for six in the first innings of the last of two Tests in Rawalpindi, they fought back with tigerish zeal, briefly dispelling rage and discontent back home with a magnificent six-wicket triumph. They knew that they had lost 11 of 13 Tests against their continental rivals, and all three in India, but armed with a new-found vigour, they felt they had the side to do battle with the hosts on an equal footing.

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The emergence of Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana as potent new-ball weapons lent a new dimension to the Bangladesh bowling, and they made a stirring start to the first of two Tests at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai when they worked their way through the formidable Indian batting in the first two sessions of the first day. Najmul Hossain Shanto had the courage to insert India in at Chepauk for the first time since Keith Fletcher in 1982 and the sceptics were silenced when India crumbled to 144 for six midway through the Test’s second session. That was as good as it got for the Bangladeshis.

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There is a reason why India are sitting on top of the World Test Championship standings, there is a reason why they occupy the No. 2 position in the ICC World Test rankings, there is a reason why, before this Test, they had won 40 and lost just four home Tests since the beginning of 2013. Actually, there are many reasons – the mentality of a champion team, the ability to unearth multiple heroes in a crisis, the abundance of talent, a strong leadership group, a burning desire to impose themselves as an all-weather Test outfit, the strength in depth that is the envy of the rest of the cricketing world.

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Falling back on all these time-tested assets, India emphatically slammed the door shut on Bangladesh’s face , rising as a gathering, unstoppable force that unleashed its full fury on the opposition and reduced what promised to be a cliffhanger into a completely one-sided rout. There were many architects of India’s 280-run victory. Player of the Match R Ashwin, second-innings centurions Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, the peerless Jasprit Bumrah, and the ever-reliable Ravindra Jadeja were the obvious heroes, but there was less visible but equally crucial support from several others. As team performances go, this was fairly complete.

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Most heartening from India’s perspective ahead of a long four months of Test cricket must be the form and fitness Pant showcased. His road to recovery after a career-threatening road accident has been well chronicled; Pant is a vital cog in this Indian Test wheel whose value has been evident so often. For India to seriously entertain visions of a three-peat of series victories in Australia in the winter, they will need Pant fit and firing on all cylinders. Early indications are that they have little to worry about on the Pant front, both when it comes to his batting and his wicketkeeping, and to his fitness and recovery parameters.

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Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir will resist the temptation to put the five-Test tour of Australia at the top of their minds at a time when four more home Tests, and valuable WTC points, still await them. They will undoubtedly plan for Australia, but they won’t take their eyes off the ball, off the immediate challenge that one more Test against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand will pose. Toward that end, they will play the conditions.

In Chennai, the red-soil base and the presence of live grass that promised – and delivered – not-inconsiderable seam movement compelled them to play three quicks for the first time in a home Test since 2019 (also against Bangladesh), but they won’t be averse to shaking things up in Kanpur next week if the conditions so demand. In Kuldeep Yadav, they have a third virtuoso spinner to back up Ashwin and Jadeja, while Akash Deep showed in patches that he is worthy of the third seamer’s spot in the sustained absence of the convalescing Mohammed Shami.

Rohit’s twin failures, caught in the slip cordon off good deliveries in both innings, won’t fuss either the captain or the head coach too much, though there must be some concern about the low scores and the mode of dismissals of Virat Kohli. This year, the former skipper’s only meaningful contribution came in the final of the T20 World Cup towards the end of June. India will still get by without home runs from Kohli, but he will be a huge figure in Australia, where he enjoys an outstanding Test record.

For his own sake, as much as for anything else, Kohli needs a score under his belt, and quickly at that. That he is too good a player not to shed his lean trot is stating the obvious; Green Park in Kanpur won’t be the worst place to begin the journey toward becoming the Kohli the cricket world has come to expect and love.