Tea Bangladesh 246 for 6 (Mushfiqur 47*, Mehedi 9*, Umesh 2-61) trail India 687 for 6 dec by 441 runs
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Umesh Yadav’s reverse-swing was too much for Bangladesh’s top order © Associated Press
India made deep inroads into the Bangladesh batting line-up, despite a 107-run partnership in 165 balls between the old firm of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. After Umesh Yadav’s reverse-swing wiped out the top order, Bangladesh’s most experienced batsmen – Shakib and Mushfiqur – combined to revive the team. R Ashwin then entered the wickets column off his 85 ball when Shakib skipped down the track and heedlessly dragged a catch against the spin to mid-on. Ten minutes before tea, Ravindra Jadeja had Sabbir Rahman lbw for 16 to leave Bangladesh at 235 for 6.
The scorecard will say Shakib hit 14 boundaries and struck his maiden Test half-century against India, but it was a chancy innings throughout. He repeatedly drove away from the body against the seamers and often drove out of the footmarks against the spinners. His dismissal was a repeat of his fateful shot against Mitchell Santner on the fifth day in Christchurch in January when the Test was on the line.
Glaring errors behind the stumps on the first two days has put Mushfiqur’s wicketkeeping in the spotlight. On the third afternoon, his running was in the spotlight, although he overcame it to progress to an unbeaten 47 at tea.
When Shakib danced out and drilled Ashwin to mid-off in the 50th over, Mushfiqur, who was ball-watching initially, was late to respond for the single. Jadeja hunted the ball down and speared it to Wriddhiman Saha, who broke the bails. Mushfiqur brought out a desperate full-length dive, but his bat popped up in the air momentarily. The shoulder of the bat was seemingly on the line while the bail came off the groove. Chris Gaffney, the TV umpire, ultimately gave Mushfiqur the benefit of the doubt on 18.
He then accumulated with sweeps while Shakib went on a boundary-hitting spree through the off side. This meant Bangladesh took 74 runs in the first 14 overs after lunch.
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Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo