Pujara-Iyer's historic stand pulls India out of trouble, but late wickets put game in balance

Ches

After winning a good toss at Chattogram, Indian skipper KL Rahul opted to bat first on a flattish looking deck. There was no lateral movement or bounce whatsoever earlier in the innings, and a mammoth Indian total seemed on the walls. 

However, to everyone's surprise, both the Indian openers threw a subtle opening stand as Shubman Gill premeditated a sweep shot to hand a dolly to leg slip, while the Indian skipper inside edged a wider delivery. 

Virat Kohli again showed that he has become mortal on cricket field as he misjudged the length and drift of the ball to get LBW. But there was a specific gentleman by the name of Shreyas Iyer who continued being immortal.

India might have failed to play Bazball, as skipper KL suggested, but their wrinkled old approach was replaced by Pantball. 

Batting at number 5, Rishabh Pant counter-attacked and pushed Bangladesh on the backfoot when India were tottering at 48-3. However, his hands got burned hard as he played too much with fire. The Pantball could only last for a 45-ball 46 as the southpaw inside-edged a delivery from Mehidy Hasan. 

Pant's dismissal brought Shreyas Iyer in the middle and that was a start of something very special. Iyer was well-aided by ace batter Cheteshwar Pujara - as if not for the partnership between the duo, it would have been a slightly different story for India.

Pujara and Iyer not only pulled India out of deep water with a calculative play but also scored the highest fifth-wicket stand for India against Bangladesh. These two batters first batted firmly in the second session of the day, and then started to bat aggressively in the last session. 

Their courageous effort was well supported by the Bangladesh fielders as both of them were dropped at least once in their knocks. Iyer was even more fortunate as he once got bowled but the bail didn't come off, which gave him an extra day to tell his tale.

However, the second new ball did wonders for the hosts as the India number three was done with an offbreak by the left-arm spinner of Taijul Islam. The stylish batter read the signs nicely and played off the day guardedly, but Axar Patel went back to the hut on the last ball of the day by Mehidy.

At stumps on Day 1, the Mumbai batter remains unbeaten on 82 but now he will only have the backs of Ravichandran Ashwin and the tail-enders.

Brief Score

India - 278/6 (90)
Cheteshwar Pujara - 90, Shreyas Iyer - 82*
Taijul Islam - 3/84 (30) , Mehidy Hasan - 2/71 (18)

Read More: Cheteshwar Pujara goes past former Indian captain with a sensational 90