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Hasan Mahmud had kept saying that the momentum was with India. The Bangladeshi paceman was talking in the press conference at the end of the first day’s play of the first Test in Chennai. But he remained hopeful that they’d get the breakthrough early in the morning and the momentum would be with them again. 

Well, Bangladesh got that momentum after getting the remaining four wickets of Indian innings for just 37 runs. 

After the bowlers had done their job on the second morning, it was up to the batters to keep fighting. But they failed and were reminded with a harsh reality check by the Indian bowlers.

The top order seemed clueless against Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, and Mohammad Siraj. The MA Chidambaram wicket was offering something to the hard SG ball, and the likes of Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, and Mominul Haque couldn’t find the answers to the thunderbolts thrown at them. 

The momentum had gone away again well inside the first 10 overs of the innings. Soon they became 40-5. But it was not uncharted territory for Bangladesh, as they recovered from 26-6 in Rawalpindi in the first innings of the second Test. 

Liton was there in Rawalpindi, who played one of the best innings of his career. He was again middling the balls, seeming to have untroubled. But the wicketkeeper batsman, who has a bad reputation of throwing his wicket away, couldn’t resist himself from throwing his bat at a tossed-up delivery off Ravindra Jadeja. 

Liton paid the price for his untimely aggression. As it was seen on the first day, the Chennai track got flattened as the day progressed. But Liton could not wait. 

Shakib, who has been struggling with his head position while batting and finding it hard to get a big score, was the highest scorer of the innings. But his tally of 32 runs says it all about the Bangladesh batting. 

After Liton fell off Jadeja, Shakib also went to attack the left-armer. He went for a reverse sweep even if he had been scoring from the conventional sweeps. And he played that shot when he was batting with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and that was the last recognised pair. 

Taskin Ahmed, who was talking at the press conference after the day’s play, admitted that the batting was disappointing and they could’ve done way better. 

But he said that the top-order batters’ responsibility was more than they showed. He said, ‘We also made mistakes with the new ball, but I felt with the SG balls, and in these kinds of conditions there are challenges, especially for the first 10-12 overs. We lost too many wickets in the first 10 overs, which cost us badly.’

Beating Pakistan on their home soil is a big feat for the Bangladesh team, but everyone knew that India would be a greater challenge. But Bangladesh got the opportunity with both ball and bat and failed to capitalise on it. 

Taskin admitted that too. ‘In Pakistan, we have played well overall with bat and ball. That’s why we won. In Test cricket, that is important—to play well in every session with bat and ball,’ he said.

‘But unfortunately the condition here is challenging, and with the SG ball, they are getting an extra advantage. They have been playing with it since their childhood, and [they play with it] in their domestic cricket. So they know how to use it. 

‘We struggled a bit in the start. But if we batted better with the new ball, then we wouldn’t lose so many wickets. When the middle order and lower order have to face the new ball, it becomes challenging. Overall, we as a team have batted poorly.’