1st Test: Jaiswal, Pant lead India’s recovery after Mahmud’s triple strike

Chennai, Sep 19 (IANS) Left-handed batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant helped India recover from Hasan Mahmud’s early triple strike as the hosts’ posted 88/3 in 23 overs at lunch on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday.

The first hour of the session belonged to Bangladesh as Mahmud challenged the edges of batters regularly and rocked India by taking out Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli in quick succession.

But Jaiswal (37 not out) hit six impressive boundaries while being watchful in defence to be the main run-scorer in the session. On the other hand, Pant was promoted to number five ahead of KL Rahul, and has looked solid while hitting five boundaries for his unbeaten 33 in his first Test innings after nearly 20 months.

Pushed into batting first on a spicy red-soil pitch and overcast skies, Bangladesh got early morning swing due to moisture in the surface. India got first boundary after 23 balls of the start of their innings, when Rohit unfurled a square drive through point off Mahmud, four balls after surviving a close lbw appeal off him, as ball tracking showed umpire’s call.

After Hasan troubled Rohit in the previous over, the pacer finally got the Indian skipper out when he got a length ball to nip away and take the outside edge to second slip. Hasan came back to dismiss Gill for an eight-ball duck, as the batter flicked behind to the keeper.

From the other end, Jaiswal did the bulk of scoring by bringing his wrists into play for the flick, followed by cover-driving and on-driving the fuller balls for more boundaries. But Hasan continued to strike as he lured Kohli to drive outside the off-stump and got a thick edge which was caught easily by the keeper.

But Jaiswal and Pant, who was dropped by Shadman Islam in the last over before lunch, ensured India didn’t get into further trouble. Despite some initial frenetic running between the wickets, the duo brought out flicks, cuts, drives, and pulls against pacers and spinners to establish an unbroken 54-run stand for the fourth wicket till lunch break came.

Brief Scores: India 88/3 in 23 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 37 not out, Rishabh Pant 33 not out; Hasan Mahmud 3-14) against Bangladesh at lunch

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