Saba Karim analyzes India's chances of enforcing follow on - “They might think about Mohammed Siraj’s workload”

Saba Karim admitted that enforcing follow on in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram is definitely an option India would ponder upon. According to him, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj’s workload could be one of the factors they would consider before arriving at a decision.

The visitors dominated Day 2 of the first Test against Bangladesh on Thursday, December 15. After Ravichandran Ashwin (58) and Kuldeep Yadav (40) added 92 runs for the eighth wicket to help India post 404 in their first innings, Kuldeep (4/33) and Siraj (3/14) reduced Bangladesh to 133/8 by stumps.

The hosts ended the day trailing India by 271 runs in the first innings. Asked if the visitors should enforce the follow on and push for a win on Day 3 itself, Karim told India News:

“They might think about Mohammed Siraj’s workload. He played in all three ODIs, But yes, enforcing the follow on is an option. They have bowled only 44 overs and have five bowlers, so there has not been any excess pressure on one particular bowler. They are still fresh. If both wickets fall early, that can be an option.”

💬💬 @mdsirajofficial speaks about his bowling approach after scalping 3️⃣ wickets on Day 2 of the first #BANvIND Test 👍🏻👍🏻

#TeamIndia https://t.co/k5gtmWuGR1

Chipping in with his views, former all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi stated that India must enforce the follow on if they want to walk the talk on playing aggressive cricket. He opined:

“I feel India must definitely give the follow on against Bangladesh if we are talking of playing cricket in attacking mode. Teams normally bat again when they want the wicket to deteriorate further or if their fast bowlers are tired. India have not bowled a lot of overs, so I see no reason why the follow on shouldn’t be given.”

India bowled only 44 overs on Day 2 of the Chattogram Test. While Ashwin and Kuldeep bowled 10 overs each, Siraj sent down nine, Umesh Yadav eight, and Axar Patel seven.

“Important for India to maintain such pressure on the opposition” - Saba Karim

Summarizing India’s performance on Day 2 of the Test, Karim said that it was a fair reflection of the difference in quality between the two sides in red-ball cricket. The former stumper elaborated:

“It is important for India to maintain such pressure on the opposition. There is a big difference in the quality of the two teams and it is crucial to assert that dominance. This is exactly what India did.

"Ashwin and Kuldeep’s partnership was vital, because of which India scored 404. The application that Kuldeep and Ashwin displayed showed the kind of mettle that the Indian team possesses.”

That's Stumps on Day 2 of the first #BANvIND Test!

A dominating show with the ball by #TeamIndia! 👍👍

4⃣ wickets for @imkuldeep18
3⃣ wickets for @mdsirajofficial
1⃣ wicket for @y_umesh

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/BANvIND-1STTEST https://t.co/SkqzNIqlSj

While India have never lost a Test to Bangladesh, they went into the ongoing series on the back of a 1-2 loss in the ODIs.