3 things to look forward to on Day 4 of the 1st Test between India and Bangladesh
Team India put themselves in a commanding position on Day 3 of the first Test against Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
Centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill in India's second innings helped them set a daunting 513-run target for Bangladesh. The hosts negotiated 12 overs unscathed but have a mountain to climb over the next two days, while KL Rahul and Co. will want to wrap things up quickly.
Here are three things to look forward to on Day 4 of the first Test between India and Bangladesh.
#3 Can Kuldeep Yadav weave his magic once again?
Kuldeep Yadav bowled only one of the 12 overs Bangladesh faced in their second innings. On Day 4, he is bound to play a bigger role.
Kuldeep was the star of the show in the first innings as he scalped five wickets in an excellent display of spin bowling. The leggie tossed the ball up and got it to not only turn both ways off the pitch but also drift, leaving the Bangladesh batters in all sorts of trouble.
Strangely, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel have looked rather ineffective, while there isn't much in the pitch for the pacers. Kuldeep, who has looked the most threatening of the Indian bowlers in the Test, will be the man to watch out for on Day 4.
#2 How will KL Rahul strategize and rotate his bowlers?
KL Rahul's captaincy is almost always in the spotlight, and this Test has been no different.
In the first innings, although Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were Bangladesh's chief wicket-takers, Rahul opted to give Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj, particularly the latter, extended spells with the new ball. The decision proved to be the right one as the pace duo shared four wickets.
Having rightly decided not to enforce the follow-on, Rahul will need to get creative with his bowling changes and field placements on Day 4 since there doesn't seem to be much help on offer. The odd ball has kept low, but on the whole, batters have been able to get stuck in and play comfortably.
Rahul hasn't been tested very often as a skipper, and when he has, he has sometimes come up short. The 30-year-old will need to be at his strategic best if India want to wrap up the game quickly.
#1 Will Ravichandran Ashwin finally get in on the action?
Surprisingly, Ravichandran Ashwin is yet to pick up a wicket in the Test match. Even more surprisingly, he has rarely beaten the bat, and even when he has, it has been from a line far outside the off stump.
Ashwin's record in Asia is spectacular, and he has a number of personal milestones to scale in the leading Test wicket-takers column. He was the only Indian bowler not to provide a breakthrough in the first innings and was the most expensive bowler in the second.
Will Ashwin be able to adapt and get back amongst the wickets on Day 4? Or will the pacers and Kuldeep outshine him?