HYDERABAD: Until July 2016, Virat Kohli did not have a double ton to his name, be in Test matches or first-class cricket. His highest till then was 197, in domestic cricket. But then the series against West Indies happened, and suddenly Kohli started taking a special liking for double centuries. Such has been his craving for it that he now has four in as many series, the most by any batsman in the world over such a period.
As expected, Day 2 started with Kohli finding the middle of the bat with unerring regularity. There came a moment during Taskin Ahmed’s five-over spell when he hit him for six boundaries. Soon after lunch, Kohli reached his fourth double hundred. He was looking good for more.
It was then that he got a gem from Taijul Islam and was sent back for 204. For a major part of his stay at the wicket on Friday, he was supported well by Ajinkya Rahane, who too looked good for more before falling for 82. This was Rahane’s first half-century after 188 against New Zealand in October. He had managed just 64 in three Tests against England before getting injured.
The carnage of bowlers continued after the fall of the Kohli-Rahane duo. Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja started cautiously, but got into the groove soon into the post-tea session. Saha reached his second Test hundred with a six. Jadeja too reached a fifth fifty as India declared at a massive 687/6.
It was another bad day in the office for the fielding side. Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim persisted with the left-right spin duo of Taijul and Mehdi Hasan for most part of the day. Both bowled more than 20 overs each. Surprisingly, Shakib Al Hasan, who has proven credentials as a left-arm spinner, wasn’t used much. All-rounder M Mahmudullah, who bowls in limited-over formats, only came on to bowl after the 145th over of the innings.
Rahim’s failure to stump Saha off Taijul, when he was batting on the score of four, proved costly in the end. Apart from that, there was an unsuccessful review by Bangladesh when a Mehedi Hasan delivery struck Saha’s pads. But it seemed that he was well forward.
On the other hand, India made the most of their reviews. It was during Bangladesh’s batting that Umesh Yadav managed to find the inside edge of Soumya Sarkar’s bat. After some thinking, the team went for the review of the caught behind appeal. The umpire’s error in judgement was rectified, much to the joy of Indian players and fans.
Indian bowlers, especially Ishant Sharma, leaked a few boundaries in the early overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled tight lines, but could not pick up a wicket. Bangladesh ended the day at 41/1.
madhav@newindianexpress.com