One of the most remarkable results of all time was achieved by Rohit Sharma’s Indian team on the fifth day’s play of the Kanpur Test, as Bangladesh were beaten by seven wickets to give the hosts their 18th consecutive series win at home.
Two and half days of this match saw no play at all, after rain interrupted proceedings on day one after 35 overs had been bowled. When the cricket resumed, India took 138 overs to complete an astonishing victory during the second session on day five. This means that it took the home team less than two days to defeat Bangladesh in Kanpur. That is the gulf between the two sides.
For the second Test in a row, Rohit won the toss and opted to field, again using three pacers. Bangladesh were 107/3 after 35 overs when play was stopped on day one. Days two and three were washed out. On day four, India bowled Bangladesh out for 233 around a superb unbeaten hundred from Mominul Haque, with the irrepressible Jasprit Bumrah bowling two match-shifting spells and Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj taking two wickets each.
Then, something unthinkable happened. With less than five sessions left in the match, India came out to bat like never before in their history, and proceeded to smash 285 runs in 34.4 overs – a run rate of 8.22 per over – before Rohit declared with a lead of 52. The skipper hit his first two balls for six and with the Player of the Match, Yashasvi Jaiswal, put on the team’s fastest fifty ever, off just 18 deliveries. Jaiswal continued to get 72 off 51 balls, Shubman Gill breezed to 39 off 36 and the demoted pair of Virat Kohli (47 off 35) and KL Rahul (68 off 43) played two of the most uncharacteristic knocks you could imagine.
But crucially, all the batsmen bought into India’s need for quick runs and that lead of 52 put pressure on Bangladesh, who lost two wickets to Ashwin before stumps on the fourth day. Racing against the clock on day five, India took the remaining eight wickets in an extended morning session and then wrapped up a chase of 95 with more than a session left. A third win for India in this decade inside two days, following victories over Afghanistan in 2018 and England in 2021. But those two wins, chiefly the one over England, came on helpful tracks.
The pitch had very little in it for the bowlers, which puts emphasis on how splendidly India did to bowl out Bangladesh for innings spanning 74.2 and 47 overs respectively. Bumrah’s match figures of 28-12-67-6 on that Kanpur track were worthy of match honours, Ashwin’s five in the match also went a long way in hurrying the outcome and Jadeja – who crossed 300 Test wickets in this match – claimed four. But the match adjudicators chose Jaiswal, whose twin fifties (72 and 51) pushed India towards what many will view as a landmark Test victory. It truly was implausible, what India did on that fourth evening, with time running out after two and a half days were washed out. And Jaiswal, all of 22 and the third-highest run-getter in Test cricket this year, was at the forefront of India’s two adrenalin-fueled innings in this match. It is a marvel indeed, the depth in this country.
India next play three Tests against New Zealand, before they head off to Australia for five matches. Ending this home stretch 5-0 is a distinctly realistic expectation of Rohit and his team-mates.
