IND vs BAN: 2nd Test – King Kohli roars, Bangladesh struggle on Day 2

Virat Kohli scored his 27th Test hundred and Ishant Sharma completed a four-fer to highlight the second day of the pink-ball Test at the Eden Gardens. At stumps, Bangladesh are left staring down the barrel at 152/6, trailing India by 89 runs.

Check out the full scorecard here.

Kohli creates history

Rightly so, India’s maiden Test century in their first pink-ball Test came from the willow of their captain. Virat Kohli, carrying on from his overnight half-century, displayed tremendous confidence as he walked out to bat. Alongside him was his deputy, who also went on to get his fourth consecutive fifty. The pair added 99 runs for the fourth wicket. There was nothing the Bangladeshi bowlers could do to stop these two, except when Rahane himself played a loose shot to throw his wicket on 51. For the second time in the series, Taijul Islam got the better of India’s vice-captain by enticing him to top-edge one a slower one to the fielder at point.

Even then, a determined Kohli continued to bat positively with his newly-arrived partner, Ravindra Jadeja. It would have been another daddy hundred from him, had Taijul not taken a blinder of a catch at the boundary. As the lower middle-order started to fold, India declared before tea at 347/9 with a lead of 247 runs.

Ishant strikes again, Mushfiqur stands tall

Batting in the twilight, the visitors once again found themselves struggling as their top four batsmen were dismissed for just 13 runs. Ishant Sharma returned to scalp four wickets with another fiery spell, his first wicket coming on the fifth ball of the Bangladeshi innings. The only bit of resistance came from veteran Mushfiqur Rahim, who was saved by DRS on two occasions.

First, Umesh Yadav trapped him LBW but the batsman successfully reviewed the umpire’s decision. On the second instance, Mushfiqur swept a delivery from R Ashwin, only to be adjudged LBW by the umpire. Yet again, the half-centurion got lucky as his glove nicked the ball.

Mahmudullah retires hurt

At the other end was another senior batsman, Mahmudullah who helped put up a 69-run stand with Mushfiqur. His 41-ball 39 was instrumental in restoring normalcy after a top-order collapse rattled the Bangladeshis. But just when their innings was gathering steam, Mahmudullah pulled his hamstring in the 19th over. The batsman did not return to bat till the end of day’s play. With Umesh Yadav and Ishant moving the ball under lights, the last session expectedly turned out to be a tough passage for Bangladesh. As their sixth wicket fell, an unbeaten Mushfiqur (59) walked back in despair. And hope.