Day 1
India 356/3 (90.0 ov)
Bangladesh
India won the toss and elected to bat
M Vijay, who was reprieved on 35, and his captain Virat Kohli punished Bangladesh with contrasting centuries, which led India to 356 for 3 on the first day in in Hyderabad. Vijay combined with Cheteshwar Pujara, who was handed a life on 11, in a 178-run partnership, before Kohli seamlessly took charge of the innings.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim termed his side's first bilateral international in India as a "great moment"; he might have later felt it was a wild roller-coaster ride. At the end of the day, in which Bangladesh's fielding went from bad to worse, they were left nauseous and with a teasing thought: what might have been?
Pujara and Vijay, India's most prolific pair in Test cricket in the last decade, extended their dominance on Thursday with another century partnership, their fifth this home season and eighth overall.
Kohli looked like he was on autopilot right from the moment he arrived, 30 minutes before tea. He began with two fours off his first three balls, the second of which was punched fiercely to the long-off boundary. He brought up his fifty off 70 balls at the end of the 73rd over, then brought up his next fifty off 60 balls with a signature whiplash to the midwicket boundary. Kohli now has a Test hundred against every opposition he has played against (he has not played against Pakistan and Zimbabwe).
Bangladesh, though, had enjoyed the perfect start to their first bilateral international in India with fast bowler Taskin Ahmed removing KL Rahul in the first over. Rahul chased a full, wide ball - wider than a set of stumps outside off - and dragged it back onto the stumps. Taskin and Kamrul Islam Rabbi then found movement in the air and off the seam, and took regular trips past the edges. They also sent down rising short balls, which forced Vijay and Pujara to throw their gloves in front of their faces.
At the end of five overs, India had only played four scoring shots. The first boundary arrived in the next over when Pujara uncharacteristically drove away from the body and sent an outside edge flying to his right of gully.
Four balls later, Pujara watched a leading edge drop in front of cover. About three overs later, Kamrul drew an outside edge from Pujara, which dropped well in front of Shakib Al Hasan at first slip. Mushfiqur could possibly have caught it had he dived to his right, but he was unmoved. Then, in the 15th over, Mehedi Hasan Miraz produced an outside edge each from Pujara and Vijay, which flew to the right of Shakib at slip.
Vijay's major reprieve came when he and Pujara found themselves at the same end. Kamrul put in the dive at square leg to create the run-out chance, and lobbed the ball back to Mehedi, the bowler. With the ball travelling slowly to him, Mehedi panicked and failed to collect the throw cleanly.
India enjoyed these breaks in the field but the runs began to flow only after lunch. Vijay drove fluently through the covers and launched Shakib straight back over his head. Pujara brought out his staple shots - the bottom-handed drive and late-cut - and looked increasingly confident against the old ball on a slow track.
The three spinners bowled 15 consecutive overs between them in the second session and conceded 54 runs. Overall, the second session yielded 120 runs in 31 overs.
When Pujara drove Mehedi straight down the ground for four in the 51st over, he broke the record for most runs in an Indian first-class season, surpassing Chandu Borde's tally of 1604 in 1964-65. The joy, though, was short-lived as he misread the next delivery - a straight ball from Mehedi - and edged behind, Mushfiqur diving to his right this time and pouching it via a ricochet off the pad.
Kohli announced himself with authoritative boundaries, while Vijay got to his ninth Test hundred before being bowled around his legs in the sixth over after tea.
Ajinkya Rahane, picked over Karun Nair, seemed comfortable while moving to 45 off 60 balls in an unbroken 122-run stand with Kohli. Bangladesh, though, were far from comfortable: the fumbles continued in the field and they even wasted a review.
In the 62nd over, Taijul Isam tossed one up on middle and leg, and Kohli middled his forward defensive. Taijul and the close-in fielders reckoned it was pad first, only for the replays to throw up how embarrassing Bangladesh's decision to review the on-field not-out call was. The second new ball wasn't spared either, and Kohli went onto middle everything.
Day 2
India 687/6d
Bangladesh 41/1 (14.0 ov)
Bangladesh trail by 646 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Another series. Another double-hundred for Virat Kohli. The opposition buried under a mountain of runs. The theme first unfolded in Antigua in July 2016, then in Indore and Mumbai. On Friday in Hyderabad against a listless Bangladesh attack, Kohli became the first batsman to hit double-hundreds in four consecutive Test series. By the time they declared at 687 for 6, India had become the first side to rack up 600-plus scores in three-consecutive innings.
India's day became sweeter when Umesh Yadav dismissed Soumya Sarkar for 15 with a 142kph ripper. Sarkar was unperturbed by the outswinger, but was done in by a full ball, which snaked in off the seam. He attempted a limp drive and Wriddhiman Saha threw himself to his right to collect the ball. India challenged the on-field not-out decision with UltraEdge picking up a thin deflection off the toe end. Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque hung on to take Bangladesh to 41 for 1 in 14 overs at stumps.
A double-hundred in Tests might be the fantasy of several batsmen, but this innings from Kohli seemed inevitable. He arrived 30 minutes before tea on the first day and completed the landmark at the start of the third over after lunch on the second, swishing left-arm spinner Taijul Islam over cover, the first time he played a lofted shot off a spinner.
Probably Kohli's only nervous moment came on 180 when he was beaten by a sharp offbreak from Mehedi Hasan Miraz and was declared lbw by umpire Joel Wilson. Kohli reviewed the decision, with ball-tracking showing it was turning too much and heading past the leg stump.
Soon after making a double-century, Kohli was pinged on the pad by a low-arm slider from Taijul and was given out by umpire Marais Erasmus, at the start of the 126th over. Kohli opted not to review this time; ball-tracking detected the impact was marginally outside off.
On either side of Kohli's exit, Ajinkya Rahane, who was picked over Karun Nair and returning from a finger injury, and Saha, returning from a thigh injury, waltzed to fifty and hundred respectively.
Kohli and Rahane had set the tone for the day by extending their overnight 122-run partnership to 222. They scored 70 runs in the first hour as India scored 121 in the morning session.
Kohli toyed with the field and with Taskin Ahmed, who did not help Bangladesh by frequently erring short in a spell that read 5-0-38-1. Kohli lashed Taskin over the top to the left of deep point, and cut the next ball along the ground and to the right of the same man. When Taskin went shorter outside off, Kohli ramped him over the slip cordon. Mushfiqur Rahim followed the ball and posted a third man, only for Kohli to beat him to his right with a sliced four.
Along the way, Kohli snatched the record for most Test runs in a home season from his former colleague Virender Sehwag. Rahane played some sparkling shots of his own, but for most part he just did his thing - bunting the ball into the gaps - before he spooned a catch to short cover, where Mehedi dived to his left and came out with the ball in one hand.
If Bangladesh thought the wicket, which came after nearly 300 balls, was an opening, they were wrong. It was another false dawn. The ball suddenly started to turn sharply, and Taijul drew Saha a long way out of the crease, but Mushfiqur reprieved him. He had so much time that he missed the stumping opportunity twice. By the time he swiped the bails off on the third attempt, Saha was safe.
Saha relied on deft flicks and a variety of cuts, and went onto hit a fifty off 86 balls. R Ashwin looked set for a fifty of his own until he nicked Mehedi to first slip for 34.
Saha wasn't done yet. He was also deft in using his feet against spin, and one such trip down the track saw him stylishly loft Taijul over his head for a six and raise a second Test hundred off 153 balls.
That wasn't the only hundred of the day. Bangladesh's front-line bowlers - Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Taskin, Mehedi, Taijul and Shakib Al Hasan - all conceded more than 100 runs.
Ravindra Jadeja did not miss out on the fun either. India hinted at a declaration when he launched Taijul into the second tier beyond long-on and followed it with a violent slog-sweep over midwicket in Taijul's next over. In between, Jadeja was dropped by Tamim, running in from long-off, on 40. He cashed in and recorded the sixth fifty-plus score of the Indian innings. He celebrated the landmark with a signature Rajputana sword dance. How Bangladesh would have wished they had something to celebrate.
Day 3
India 687/6d
Bangladesh 322/6 (104.0 ov)
Bangladesh trail by 365 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
India made light work of the Bangladesh top order before fifties from Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mehedi Hasan Miraz hauled the visitors to 322 for 6 in reply to India's 687. Bangladesh's most experienced batsmen, Shakib and Mushfiqur, sparked the resistance with a 107-run partnership off 165 balls. Mushfiqur and Mehedi, who scored his maiden half-century, then saw off the second new ball and stubbornly played out a wicketless post-tea session.
Glaring errors behind the stumps on the first two days had put Mushfiqur's wicketkeeping in the spotlight. On the third afternoon, his running was in the spotlight, and he was frequently caught ball-watching early in his innings, but he overcame it to progress to an unbeaten 81.
When Shakib danced out and drilled R Ashwin to mid-off in the 50th over, Mushfiqur was late to respond to his partner's call for a single. Ravindra Jadeja hunted the ball down and speared it to Wriddhiman Saha, who broke the bails. Mushfiqur had brought out a desperate full-length dive, but his bat had popped up in the air momentarily. The shoulder of the bat was seemingly on the line when the bail came off the groove. Chris Gaffney, the TV umpire, ultimately gave Mushfiqur the benefit of the doubt. He was on 18 at that point.
Mushfiqur then accumulated with sweeps while Shakib reached his maiden Test half-century against India off 69 balls. The scorecard will tell you Shakib hit 14 boundaries, 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. The century stand ended when Shakib skipped out and heedlessly dragged a catch against the spin to mid-on.
It was a repeat of his fateful shot against Mitchell Santner on the fifth day in Wellington in January when the Test was on the line. This time he gave Ashwin his 249th wicket in Tests. He was kept waiting for the 250th.
A sure-footed Mehedi took over from Shakib and ably complemented Mushfiqur's patience. Mehedi claimed 51 of the unbroken 87-run stand for the seventh wicket after Jadeja had removed Sabbir Rahman ten minutes before tea.
Mehedi dared to club Ashwin over midwicket and even picked a carrom ball and drove it exquisitely through cover. He got to his fifty when he late-cut Ashwin for four in the penultimate over of the day. In the last over, Mushfiqur became the fourth Bangladesh player, after Habibul Bashar, Tamim Iqbal, and Shakib Al Hasan, to reach 3000 runs in Test cricket.
Things weren't as rosy for Bangladesh in the morning session. Tamim fell in the third over of the day, taking on Umesh's arm from the deep. A mix-up resulted in both Tamim and Mominul Haque stopping near the middle of the pitch while running a second. Umesh swooped in from long leg, attacked the ball, and fired a throw to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the bowler, who collected and under-armed adroitly onto the stumps.
In addition to being uncertain while running between the wickets, Mominul was uncertain outside his off stump. Virat Kohli reinforced the slip cordon and even posted a silly mid-on to apply more pressure. Mominul's tentative stay ended on 12 when Umesh trapped him in front with reverse-swing.
Mahmudullah survived a tight lbw call on 6 off Bhuvneshwar with India's review of Joel Wilson's on-field not-out decision returning umpire's call on leg stump. He managed to regroup to put on 45 with Shakib before Ishant Sharma had him lbw with an inswinger for 28. This time Wilson raised his finger, and Mahmudullah coaxed Shakib and reviewed only for ball-tracking to suggest it would have grazed leg stump.
Day 4
India 687/6d & 159/4d
Bangladesh 388 & 103/3 (35.0 ov)
Bangladesh require another 356 runs with 7 wickets remaining
Tests hurtle towards results on the moving day in India, which has of late shifted to the third from the fourth day. On a flatter surface in Hyderabad, the Test moved on the fourth day but decisively so towards India after only 12 wickets had fallen on the first three days. India took the four remaining first-innings wickets in one session despite an impressive Mushfiqur Rahim century, followed it up with a busy session to take their lead to 458 and took three second-innings wickets in the final session to bring themselves within sight of a win.
There might be some disappointed that India didn't enforce the follow-on keeping in mind the flat nature of the pitch, but India always looked like giving Bangladesh four sessions to survive, which was going to be a daunting task. In fourth innings in India, only twice have visiting sides batted more than the minimum of 125 overs Bangladesh were asked to bat. This was also only 2.5 overs fewer than what Bangladesh played in the first innings, only the second time they have lasted 100 overs against India.
It became all the worse when R Ashwin, who had become the fastest to 250 wickets with the last first-innings wicket 10 minutes before lunch, removed Tamim Iqbal as early as the sixth over of the final innings. Ashwin might have got just the two wickets in the first innings, but he was well and truly in rhythm bowling with the new ball against left-hand batsmen at the top of the innings. The rough outside their off stump had now become active, and Ashwin kept pitching just outside off, dipping the ball to make them stretch forward. This is when the natural variation becomes lethal as Tamim found out, bat-padding one that didn't turn as much as expected.
Soumya Sarkar and Mominul Haque kept India at bay for 16.4 overs, with India bowling seam at one end and spin at the other, but the introduction of Ravindra Jadeja brought a new challenge. Jadeja began targeting that rough obsessively, and in his second over he had the tall Sarkar stretching in front of his body to play a forward-defensive. This time the ball went straight on as opposed to turning, and Ajinkya Rahane took a sharp one-handed catch low to his right at slip.
In the next over Ashwin made it a double strike, moving over the wicket to Mominul and drawing a regulation edge. There was dip and there was a piece of pitch that came off when the ball pitched on leg stump. There wasn't much Mominul could do there. Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah then went through a nervous 10.5 overs to give Bangladesh a half chance of saving the Test.
It was quite different to how comfortably Mushfiqur and Mehedi Hasan had batted out the final session on day three. That calm was disrupted with Bhuvneshwar Kumar's reverse swing in the first over on the fourth morning. He did it each way: swinging the first ball in, the second out, the third in, and the fourth through the defence of the impressive Mehedi who had begun the day on 51.
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 might be struggling as a captain and a wicketkeeper but as a batsman he stood between India and complete and utter dominance of the 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 went on to complete a second consecutive century as India took almost the whole first session to bowl Bangladesh out. Along the way he overtook Habibul Bashar to become the third-highest run-getter for Bangladesh.
Mushfiqur, who had added only six more singles to his overnight score by the time Taijul got out, 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. Jadeja and Ashwin remained persistent, though, and finally broke through. Jadeja's dismissal of the left-hand No. 10 Taskin Ahmed was almost identical to how he got Sarkar caught at slip in the second innings.
Ashwin then got to his record through a stunning catch by Wriddhiman Saha down the leg side off a carrom ball. The shot was on, though: the ball was short, Mushfiqur had only No. 11 for company, and he attempted a fine pull. He managed to just glove it through but Saha had moved well with the ball to catch it.
Having secured a lead of 299, India chose to give their bowlers a breather and batted on in the middle session. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane scored quick runs, with Pujara hooking Taskin Ahmed for only the eighth six of his Test career. India scored 158 in the middle session to take their lead to 458. Pujara scored an unbeaten 54 off 58, and also batted with Saurashtra team-mate Jadeja for the first time in a Test.
Later in the day, Jadeja would go back to team up with a familiar partner, Ashwin, to strike telling blows.
Day 5
India 687/6d & 159/4d
Bangladesh 388 & 250
India won by 208 runs
Ravindra Jadeja's relentless accuracy and Ishant Sharma's swing ensured India dismissed Bangladesh for 250 in an improbable chase of 459 and secured their sixth consecutive series win in Test cricket, in Hyderabad.
Bangladesh's major source of resistance on the fifth day came via a Jekyll-and-Hyde fifty stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, who moved to his first fifty since July 2015. Facing a target of 481 - 22 more than Bangladesh were set in Hyderabad - South Africa looked to block their way out to a draw in Delhi in 2015. Chasing 475 in Indore last year, New Zealand attacked and collapsed dramatically. On Monday, Bangladesh did a bit of both and played out 100 or more overs in each innings for the sixth time.
Periods of resolute defence provided a counterpoint to periods of madness. Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah showed sound judgement outside the off stump against the seamers but threw their bats at the spinners. Mushfiqur charged at Ashwin's second ball - a non-turning offbreak - and drove along the ground for a risky four. Two balls later, he used his feet again, hit over the top against the break and holed out to wide mid-off. His wicket exposed the inexperienced lower middle order and added to the list of inglorious Bangladesh dismissals in the recent past.
Ishant Sharma then pinned Sabbir, playing his fifth Test, lbw soon after lunch for 22. Mahmudullah, who had sent Jadeja over the top for back-to-back boundaries in the 50th over, continued to live dangerously against spin. But it was pace that removed him. Ishant tucked him up with a chest-high short ball on the leg stump and forced a top-edged pull to long leg.
Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Kamrul Islam Rabbi saw off the second new ball and squeezed 17 runs off 85 balls, but the re-introduction of Jadeja produced the breakthrough. He found extra bounce and turn to rap the bottom glove of Mehedi, Wriddhiman Saha rising with the ball to complete another excellent catch. Taijul skied a top-edge off another quick fizzer from Jadeja before Ashwin completed the formalities in bizarre fashion, in an extended post-lunch session.
Ashwin's slider beat No.11 Taskin Ahmed, with umpire Marais Erasmus' review for a bat-pad catch returning no snick. Virat Kohli then chose to review for lbw, after which ball-tracking returned three reds to put the icing on India's cake.
Ashwin bowled only 14.3 overs on the last day as opposed to Jadeja who wheeled away for 29 overs and nearly bagged his second successive five-wicket haul in the second innings.
Like a popgun, he kept firing into the rough in an interrupted spell of 14-6-31-1, in the morning, including the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan in the third over of the day. Shakib's dismissal summed up the sheer enormity of negotiating a deteriorating fifth-day track in India. Jadeja got one to explode from the rough outside off, graze the top glove of Shakib and loop to Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg. Jadeja stuck his tongue out and flashed a naughty little smile. India pressed on to extend their unbeaten streak in Test cricket to 19.
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