Five talking points & Analysis- India vs Bangladesh Second Test Kolkata November 2019

India completed yet another innings victory- their fourth successive in tests at home this season, as they comfortably beat Bangladesh in Kolkata on Sunday.

Here are our talking points from the country’s first day & night test.

1. Team India create history

As mentioned above, this victory over Bangladesh was India’s fourth consecutive tests win by an innings, making them the first ever team to do so. South Africa were humbled in Pune & Ranchi and Bangladesh suffered the same fate in the first test at Indore.

This maiden pink ball game was also the shortest in terms of deliveries bowled in a test in India (968), beating the previous record of 1028 against Afghanistan last year.

2. Two concussion substitutes used in the same innings

Bangladesh’s troubles with the bat were further exacerbated when Liton Das & Nayeem Hasan were forced off the field after being struck on the helmet.

Since the introduction of the concussion substitute rule, four of the five players who were replaced had been facing India’s bowlers at the time of the blow- another indication of how threatening the Men in Blue’s pacers have become over the last couple of years.

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3. More records for King Kohli

Not only Kohli was the only batsman to make a century on this tricky Eden Gardens wicket (his 70th international hundred), but he also became the fastest player to score 5000 test runs as captain. This was also India’s seventh consecutive test victory under Kohli, and extended their unbeaten run at home to 12 series (another record!)

4. Bangladesh batsmen disappointing

The Tigers were disappointing in Indore, but fans and pundits would have been hoping for a better show in the Bengali city of Kolkata- barely a 30 minute flight from Dhaka. Unfortunately they capitulated once again in sorry fashion. The concussion suffered by Liton Das- easily their best player on show in the first innings, didn’t help matters either. The top four batsmen were dreadful and were sitting ducks for the in-form Indian fast bowlers.

Like he had in the first test Mushfiqur Rahim again offered some resistance in the second innings here, but it was too little too late.

5. India’s pacers make merry again

All of Bangladesh’s wickets that fell in this test went to the pacers- a first in tests at home for the Men in Blue. Ishant Sharma was outstanding at the Eden Gardens and was ably supported by Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami. Some Indian fans were of the opinion that their side could have potentially made this a one day test, and given the success of their bowlers, we have to admit that the thought wasn’t as far-fetched as it may have originally seemed.

India’s pacers also broke an eight decade old record in this series- no other home series for the Men in Blue has had such a high percentage of wickets taken by their pace bowlers. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja were only required to bowl seven overs between them across the whole test, and the former wasn’t even required to turn his arm over in the first innings.

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