India 687 for 6 decl. and India 1 for 0 (Vijay 1*, Rahul 0*) lead Bangladesh 388 (Mushfiqur 127, Umesh 3-84) by 300 runs
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01:11
Ashwin’s race to 250 Test wickets
Mushfiqur Rahim might be struggling as a captain and a wicketkeeper but as a batsman he stood between India and dominance of the Hyderabad Test. He had a hamstring issue towards stumps on day three, he had his gloves peppered, he saw his lower-order partners struggle against India’s fast bowling but Mushfiqur went on to complete a second consecutive century as India took almost the whole first session on day four to take the remaining four Bangladesh wickets. Having secured a lead of 299, India still chose to give their bowlers a breather and decided to bat for the second time before they start the push for the win at some time in the evening session.
R Ashwin became the fastest man to 250 Test wickets when he took the last wicket to fall, 10 minutes before lunch: Mushfiqur out to a stunning catch by Wriddhiman Saha down the leg side off a carrom ball. The shot was on, though, with No. 11 for company and this ball down the leg side. Mushfiqur only managed to get a bit of a glove on the attempted fine pull. This was perhaps only the second error Mushfiqur made in the whole session after resuming on his overnight 81.
Bangladesh couldn’t have had a worse start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar reversed one through the defence of the overnight half-centurion Mehedi Hasan in the first over of the morning. Through some fortune and through some application, Mushfiqur and Taijul Islam batted together for close to 10 overs. Taijul faced 38 of those deliveries as Mushfiqur didn’t farm the strike. Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma tested both of them with bouncers with Taijul finally gloving one through to Saha.
Mushfiqur, who had added only six more singles to his overnight score by then, then got a six off a top-edged hook and started to score more freely. A misfield from Ishant at fine leg brought up the century. Mushfiqur wasn’t done yet as he targeted Ashwin after spin was introduced only in the second hour, hitting him for two fours and a six. Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin remained persistent, though, and finally broke through.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo