Page 49 - Test Cricket

New Zealand eight down, Sri Lanka two wickets away from winning 1st Test

The first test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand has been fiercely contested, with the home side edging towards victory by the close of play on the penultimate day Sunday. The tourists ended the day at 207-8, still 68 runs short of their 275-run target but with the pitch offering significant assistance to the spinners, Sri Lanka looks set to wrap up the game. Top-order batsman Rachin Ravindra has been fighting a lone battle for New Zealand. The left-hander remained unbeaten on 91 at stumps and could become the first New Zealander to score a hundred in Galle. Ravindra batted with a clear game plan, combining solid defense with an effective use of both the conventional and reverse sweeps to find scoring opportunities. He also capitalized on a rare loose delivery from part-time spinner Dhananjaya de Silva, dispatching the full toss for six. Chasing 275 was never going to be easy for New Zealand, and Prabath Jayasuriya made life difficult for the batsmen. He claimed the crucial wicket

IND vs BAN 1st Test Day 4 HIGHLIGHTS: All-round Ashwin help India beat Bangladesh by 280 runs

Ravichandran Ashwin took 6 wickets and scored 113 runs in the match, while Ravindra Jadeja scored 86 runs and took five wickets in the game.

IND vs BAN: R Ashwin reveals special bond with teammate Ravindra Jadeja

Hunting in pair is an often-used maxim about fast bowlers, but Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have given a new spin to it, consistently troubling the opposition in more ways than one. The latest mission by the Tango and Cash of modern Indian cricket was against Bangladesh in the ongoing first Test here when they added 199 runs for the seventh wicket to lead India to 376 all out from a wispy 144 for six. It was a new high even for the Ashwin-Jadeja combine, who have registered three 50-plus stands together to steady the Indian ship in the past. Ashwin did not hide his admiration for Jadeja. I always envy him. So gifted, so talented. He's found ways to maximise his potential. I wish I could be him, but I'm glad I am myself, Ashwin told reporters during the post-day press meet here on Friday. The Chennai man admitted that having Jadeja at the other end helped him constructing his sixth Test hundred. He is an exceptionally good cricketer. I'm happy for him. Likewise, in so ma

IND vs BAN: Rishabh Pant marks comeback with 6th Test hundred in Chennai

Pant's 124-ball hundred came at the time when India were extending their lead on day 3 of the Test. His century included his trademark hitting as well which was greeted by the Chepauk crowd as well.

IND vs BAN: Shubman Gill scores 5th Test hundred as India declare at 287/4

Gill's unbeaten knock of 119 led India's innings on day 3 alongside Rishabh Pant in order to give India a massive 514-run lead after 2nd innings.

IND vs BAN: Transformed Chepauk pitch offers a fever-dream for pacers

Sit back, close your eyes and recollect the great spells at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The first two reels will be that of two young spinners one bespectacled and other with a turban bamboozling the batters like magicians. Narendra Hirwani walked away with a 16-wicket match haul against West Indies here in 1986, while 15 wickets were added to Harbhajan Singh's tally in 2001 against Australia. So, it was quite natural to expect two modern day greats in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja ripping through Bangladesh batting line-up at Chepauk to keep up with the tradition. But pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep shared eight wickets among them to meddle with history and expectations. Such dominance by pacers was unknown at this venue since the late 70s. In 1979, a three-pronged pace attack comprising Kapil Dev, Karsan Ghavri and Dhiraj Parsana took 11 wickets among them in India's three-wicket win over the mighty West Indians. Since then, this has always been

IND vs BAN: Kohli bats for long, Bumrah goes whole hog in India's practice

Batting superstar Virat Kohli spent about 45 minutes in the nets and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah bowled full tilt as the Indian cricket team on Friday began its preparations for a two-Test series against Bangladesh. With the first Test against Bangladesh scheduled here from September 19, the entire squad, including skipper Rohit Sharma and Kohli, assembled at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for a closed door training session. This would be the first home assignment for new head coach Gautam Gambhir. New bowling coach, South African great Morne Morkel, and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar were also in attendance. The BCCI posted images of the first day of practice and wrote, "The countdown starts as Team India begin their preps for an exciting home season." The images showed the entire squad listening attentively to Gambhir, his support staff and skipper Rohit. "Virat was there for 45 minutes and Bumrah also bowled full throttle," a local source told PTI Virat has flown in directly fro

Who scored the most Test runs on Indian soil in the current IND, BAN squad?

From the current squad, wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim holds the record for the most Test runs in India for Bangladesh.

IND vs BAN: Highest wicket-takers in Tests for Team India at home

From Anil Kumble to Jasprit Bumrah, Indian bowlers have consistently outperformed many opposition bowlers at home over the years.

IND vs BAN 1st Test: Sarfaraz, Jurel to be dropped from Playing 11- Gambhir

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has provided a subtle hint in his press conference that the duo of Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel might not be featuring for the 1st Test.

IND vs BAN 1st Test: Chennai weather hourly forecast, rain prediction

India's first Test match in 8 months could be interrupted by rain on September 19 but a washout is hopefully not on the cards on the day.

India vs Bangladesh 1st Test playing 11, live toss time, streaming details

India picked three pacers - Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep - in their Playing while R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the two spinners.

India vs Bangladesh: Important to build relationship with seniors - Gambhir

Head coach Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday underlined the significance for him to build on the existing cordial relationship with the senior players like skipper Rohit Sharma and batting talisman Virat Kohli to take Indian cricket forward. Gambhir, who took over from Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup, has shared the Indian dressing room with the likes of Kohli, Rohit and Ashwin in the not-so-distant past. It's still early days (for him as coach). But the good part is that I have played with those guys (seniors). At one stage we were sharing the dressing room as players, when they were younger, who have now become experienced guys, Gambhir said in the pre-match press meet here. When you have that kind of a relationship, sometimes it gets much easier than building a relationship. Obviously, now the roles are different. The relationship we can build over a period of next couple of years. It's going to be very important, and now we should keep taking it a little bit forward because we'v

India vs Bangladesh: Gambhir backs Indian batters to take on any spin unit

India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday expressed confidence in his batting unit's capability to negate quality spin bowling, a challenge they are expected to face in the Test series against Bangladesh. India batters, including star batter Virat Kohli, struggled against Sri Lankan spinners in the ODI-leg of the recent away white-ball series, leading to a tinge of apprehension ahead of the Bangladesh rubber. "Our batting unit has so much quality that it can take on any spin unit. There is a lot of difference between ODIs and Tests. It's all about the mindset and working and strengthening your defence and once you have it, then you play around it," Gambhir told the media on the eve of the opening Test. The former Indian opener, himself an excellent player of spin in his playing days, conceded that Bangladesh have experienced and quality tweakers in their ranks. "They have a very good bowling attack. Shakib (Al Hasan) has got the experience. Mahidi (Hasan) is there as well. So, w

IND vs BAN: Highest run-getters for India in Tests at home; check full list

Sachin Tendulkar is India's highest run-getter at home, with 7216 runs in 94 matches. He is followed by Rahul Dravid, who scored 5598 runs in 70 Tests in India, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virender Sehwag.

IND vs BAN 1st Test: Here's how Hasan Mahmud bamboozles Kohli, Rohit & Gill

Bangladesh's decision to bowl first proved to be a good one, as the pitch looked well-suited for pacers at the start of the day.

IND vs BAN: Team India's Test record in Chennai, check full list of matches

Team India has played 34 Test matches in Chennai, securing 15 wins, 7 losses, and 11 draws, with 1 match ending in a tie.

India vs Bangladesh: Jaiswal-Pant put up rescue act amid top-order collapse

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal stood his ground at the other end till lunch and managed to play some good cricketing shots when the pacers had the upper hand.

IND vs BAN: Ravichandran Ashwin suggests batters to go hard like Pant

Home hero Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday said he made a conscious effort to bat aggressively on the red soil pitch laid out for the first Test against Bangladesh. The ploy worked brilliantly as Ashwin got India out of a hole with a sublime hundred in front of his home crowd. "It's an old Chennai surface with a bit of bounce and carry. The red soil pitch allows you to play a few shots if you are willing to just get in line and give it a bit of a tonk when there's width," Ashwin told the host broadcasters after the opening day's proceedings. "Of course, I have always been wafting my bat around outside off-stump. Worked on a few things and on a surface like this with a bit of spice, if you're going after the ball, might as well go after it really hard like Rishabh does." Rishabh Pant too batted well for his 39 off 52 balls before falling to a loose stroke. On a day India lost their top-four for 96, Ashwin showed remarkable control and dominated the Bangladesh bowling in his brillian

IND vs BAN: The story behind Bangladesh cricket team's pace revolution

For the last one month, Bangladesh is on a mission to reverse a long-standing trend of left-arm spinners leading their bowling. Two beanpole quicks are at the forefront of that changing of baton Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana. They arrived on these shores after a sensational effort against Pakistan, but India could be a daunting destination even for the more experienced ones. But on the opening day of the first Test against India here on Thursday, Mahmud (4/58) and Rana (1/80) justified the hype around them, rather contrastingly. Mahmud owns lively pace but banks more on an exemplary seam position and other variations to make an impact, whereas Rana is the battering ram, looking to unsettle the batters with raw pace. It was evident in their respective approach at Chepauk. But Mahmud was more successful this day, taking four wickets Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant a list that still remains a dream even for the more reputed names. Rana hustled Indians ...