 "T20-style Test cricket: India's aggressive batting breathes new life into Kanpur Test")
India are on the verge of winning the Kanpur Test despite nearly half of the time lost due to rain and wet outfield! This would have sounded crazy in the morning but by the time dust settled in the evening, it seemed like the most realistic result for this game. Rohit Sharma and his teammates would be terribly disappointed if Bangladesh somehow manage to survive on Day 5 on what is still a very good track for batting.
On Day 4 as play finally resumed, Team India was in a desperate hurry to compensate for all the lost overs over the last three days in Kanpur. The intent from the bowlers, catchers, and later the batters amply demonstrated that the hosts want to finish with a 2-0 margin so that World Test Championship points don’t become a big headache during the high-profile tour of Australia.
As it happened | IND vs BAN 2nd Test Day 4 in Kanpur
India took a first innings lead of 52 runs with a whirlwind display of highly explosive batting which has never been witnessed in world cricket, let alone a Test match in India.
As the bowling coach Morne Morkel couldn’t remember all the records in his post-match press conference, he just acknowledged that becoming the fastest team to score 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 in men's Tests wasn’t just a fluke, but the part of hosts’ strategy to flummox the visitors as well as their intent to force the result.
India declared their first innings on 285 for 9 in just 34.4 overs after Bangladesh were bowled out for 233 in their first innings.
14.34 is the kind of run-rate that you often don’t see by the opening batters even in T20Is. However, the recently-retired opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has a future great in the shortest format, showed that this pair can do the same in the red ball if the team had any such requirements.
Impact Shorts
View AllThey set the template for the rest of the batters with an 18-ball fifty and the scoring rate during the 55-run opening partnership between them was a staggering 14.34. Captain Rohit Sharma’s philosophy - not playing for the personal record but for the team, which has been evident in white-ball cricket - was on full display at Kanpur’s Green Park. His cameo of 11-ball-23 runs included sixes on the first two balls (only the fourth man in Test history to do so), one more over the long-on boundary, and a four.
There was just one odd failure in Rishabh Pant (9) in India’s batting effort which saw opener Jaiswal and KL Rahul scoring contrasting but quickfire fifties with a T20sque strike rate of 141.17 and 158.13 respectively. Shubman Gill (39)and Virat Kohli (47) also scored with strike rates over 100 as the latter became the quickest batter in the history of the sport to complete 27,000 international runs.
Kohli goes down the ground 🔥#IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #INDvBAN #JioCinemaSports #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/2nrlZbg3aT
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) September 30, 2024
Undoubtedly, it was India’s own ‘Jais-Ball’ style of batting at the top, followed by almost everyone in the line-up. The left-handed opener was the highest scorer with a 51-ball 72, which included a dozen fours and two massive sixes. “He’s just, the way he’s hitting the ball, it’s incredible. But again, I take it back to training. I watch him train now. You know, that guy, he’s got a routine, he’s got a process that he follows in his back. And, you know, there’s a reason why he’s good putting out the runs in the ball, because of that,” explained Morne Morkel, the bowling coach, on the method behind the madness.
Rohit shows the way
India’s aggressive intent was visible from the moment they entered the field on the 4th day of the Test. If India needed inspiration, it came instantly with a one-handed stunning catch of captain Rohit Sharma to remove Bangladesh batter Litton Das. It lifted the mood of the whole stadium as the fans went berserk.
One hand, all class 🤯👌
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) September 30, 2024
Captain Rohit Sharma takes a stunner to dismiss Liton Das!☝️#INDvBAN #JioCinemaSports #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries pic.twitter.com/Raq8OoLAlI
India could barely celebrate the catch of the day before Mohammed Siraj produced another breathtaking display of fielding, taking an equally spectacular catch at the boundary to dismiss Shakib Al Hasan, who is enduring a torrid time on the current tour of India.
“In a day where it’s hot, where conditions are, you know, he knows about it, it’s going to be hard work, you need to feel there’s good background. And, you know, the boys took those tough chances, those 50-50 chances. So that immediately lifts your energy as a bowler. It sort of brings the energy up in the field,” Morkel explained later on the impact of those two blinders.
Jadeja’s 300th wicket
It was also a memorable day due to what Ravindra Jadeja achieved. By the time he boards his flight to Australia in the second week of November, he is likely to surpass 311 Test wickets - a significant milestone in India’s illustrious list of Test bowlers, as both Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma finished with the same tally. His 312th dismissal will place him among the top five all-time leading wicket-takers for India. India belatedly celebrated Anil Kumble’s sustained greatness, and a similar recognition is now happening with Ravichandran Ashwin after his entry into the 500-wicket club.
But what about Jadeja? In Bangladesh’s first innings, Jadeja got the last wicket and thus claimed his 300th victim in Test cricket and his celebration was not over the top. Even the team members simply acknowledged the feat and moved on hurriedly as their eyes were firmly fixed on kicking off the batting innings. And yet Jadeja’s accomplishments shouldn’t be forgotten in a hurry.
300 and it feels so good! 😍
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) September 30, 2024
Another milestone achievement for #TeamIndia's All-round royalty - Ravindra Jadeja ✨#INDvBAN #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/u1biUuFTI2
He has been playing the same role that Harbhajan Singh used to do for Kumble. Like Bhajji, Jaddu too is a match-winner on his own especially on the Indian pitches but that often gets overshadowed by his ability as an all-rounder.
Only 11 players have achieved the double of 3000 Test runs and 300 Test wickets and only England’s Ian Botham did it in fewer (72 matches) than the left-arm spinner from India who is playing his 74th game. Among the seven Indians to have taken 300+ Test wickets, the 35-year-old has the second-best average (24.00) and strike rate (58.0).
However, it was Jadeja’s other bowling partners who as a combined force rattled the Bangladesh batters with their versatility. India’s bowling colossus Jasprit Bumrah was the most successful with 3 for 50 but was ably supported by the likes of Ashwin and Siraj. The hero of the Chennai Test, Ashwin was in his element with the new ball in the second innings and struck twice and ensured India had almost a perfect day of Test cricket with extraordinary fielding, batting, and bowling.
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