Shanto and Co eye taking India to the final session

When a defeat of 208 runs is the best ever result for a cricket team against another in away conditions, the difference in strength of the sides hardly needs any further explanation.

The defeated team in this instance are Bangladesh and the victorious ones are India. The match had taken place in Hyderabad in 2017, which was also the Tigers’ first ever Test against the neighbouring country on Indian soil.

Bangladesh have played two more Tests in India since then, both of them in 2021, where they showed little to no fight and suffered innings defeats.

The fact that the Tigers managed to make the opposition bat twice is not the only reason why the Hyderabad Test could be considered their best red-ball showing in India till now.

In the game, Bangladesh almost accomplished something they had never before done against India, that is to take a Test into the final session.

To be precise, there have been two Bangladesh-India Tests that have gone to the final session of the fifth day, but the Tigers can hardly take credit for that as in both of those matches, which took place in Chattogram and Khulna in 2007 and 2015 respectively, inclement weather had caused heavy disruptions in play, forcing them to end in draws.

In the Hyderabad Test in 2017, Bangladesh went into the fifth day with seven wickets in hand, 356 runs away from pulling off an improbable chase of 459.

Overnight batter Mahmudullah hit a valiant 64 off 149 balls but the real star of the day from the Bangladesh camp was pacer Kamrul Islam, who fended off 70 balls for his three runs and remained unbeaten.

Bangladesh were ultimately bundled out in the second session, which went on for 33.3 overs. Had the others emulated Kamrul’s resilience, the Tigers could have made the hosts sweat in the final session and even push for a heroic draw.

But back then, the Bangladesh team did not have the belief that they could pull off something like that in away conditions.

In the seven years since then, the Tigers have made steady progress in away Tests, pulling off a historic Test win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui in 2021 and recently completing a 2-0 sweep against Pakistan.

The Bangladesh team have been showered with praises and cash bonuses for their feat in Pakistan and are riding high on confidence before the forthcoming two-Test series in India, starting in Chennai on September 19.

Still, skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, perhaps realising the difference in strength of the two sides, had his feet firmly planted to the ground when he spoke about his expectations from the series before the team left for Chennai on Sunday, saying the first goal would be to take the game to the very end.

“It will be a challenging series. If you see the rankings, they lead us by a lot,” Shanto told the media at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday.

“We have been playing well recently. We recently had a good series. Our goal will be to play well throughout the five days, ensure the match is decided on the last session. A team will stand with a chance to win in the last session if they have played well for five days,” he added.

Shanto also said the players are not getting ahead of themselves and are planning on how they can play well throughout five days. “We will play every match to win. But what is important is that instead of thinking too far ahead, we need to play according to our strength for five days.”