BAN vs IND 2022: The way we bowled in the first innings really set the game up – KL Rahul

India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul gave credit to the bowling unit after the team registered a comprehensive win of 188 runs at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chhatogram on Sunday. Bangladesh was skittled out for a paltry score of 150 runs in response to India’s 404 and Rahul feels the bowlers were able to set the game up after they had a lead of 254 runs.

Kuldeep Yadav was the chief destroyer of the Bangladesh innings as he scalped a five-wicket haul. Mohammed Siraj was also right on the money as he returned with figures of 3-20 in the first essay.

Rahul admitted they had to work hard for this win as Bangladesh were able to put up a fight in the second innings. The Tigers scored 324 runs in the second dig and Indian bowlers had to work hard as the pitch was flat.

Axar Patel was the pick of the bowlers in the second essay as he snared four wickets. Furthermore, Kuldeep Yadav continued his good show as he took three wickets in the second innings. Yadav was awarded the Player of the Match for his bowling performance.

On the other hand, there were positives for India as Cheteshwar Pujara, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill scored valuable runs for the team.

KL Rahul said in the post-match presentation, “We’ve been here for a while. The one-day series didn’t go how we wanted it to, the results didn’t go our way. It was important that we turned up and performed well in the Test series. It was a hard-fought Test match and we had to really work hard for this win. Really happy that we did that. It (pitch) did flatten out, it didn’t worry us but it looked like the batters were batting very comfortably and getting runs easily. Getting runs was very hard for the first three days. It was a slow pitch, not much in the wicket for batters to get runs easily. The way their openers batted, made it harder for us and we knew that we had to work hard for our wickets. Even when the partnership was going, our intensity was really high. We’ve played Test cricket for a while and we know that no victory comes easy. We batted well in the first innings as well. From the position we were in to get to 400+ was a job well done by the batters. Puji (Pujara), Shreyas batted really well and Rishabh went with that counter-attacking innings, that’s how he plays. Good that the batters did that and the lower order contributed, that gives you confidence when you win the toss and bat first.”

He added, “The way we bowled in the first innings really set the game up. Shubman and Puji really utilised the opportunity of batting, very happy for them. Very pleased with the way we bowled in both the innings. The pitch wasn’t really assisting the bowlers all that much, but they found something in the wicket. The seamers got wickets, Umesh bowled a couple of brilliant spells and got us back in the game. We’ve built this attack over the years. They are showing what quality they have. We won the Test match, I am not going to worry about what we could have done better. We are going to relax for the next couple of days and then think about what we need to do next.”

The second Test match between India and Bangladesh will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka from December 22.