File image of Dinesh Karthik© Twitter
The KL Rahul-led Indian cricket team is in the driver’s seat against Bangladesh in the first Test in Chattogram. On Day 2 of the match, keft-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav shone with both bat and ball as India plunged Bangladesh into serious trouble. Bangladesh collapsed to 133-8 at stumps, with Kuldeep picking up 4-33 after his 40 made a vital contribution to India’s first innings total of 404 runs. Mohammad Siraj ripped the hearts out of Bangladesh’s top order with 3-14 before Kuldeep — playing the series as a late replacement for Ravindra Jadeja — mesmerised the home side with his left-arm spin.
His effort was lauded by Dinesh Karthik. “The key moment for me was the second ball he bowled to Shakib Al Hasan, somebody who is a very good player of spin. He knows how to tackle a spinner. Stepped out but the ball just dipped a little bit in front and got enough turn for him to play the wrong shot. That was really good bowling. That ball would have given Kuldeep a lot of confidence and that was the starting of his spell,” said Karthik on Cricbuzz.
“From there on you could see Kuldeep in full flow. He troubles good batters. You can see from the batters who came after that, really struggled to play him. That was really heartening. It will keep India in good stead even when they travel abroad but more so for the forthcoming series against Australia. He will become a good weapon to have.”
Kuldeep struck off his second ball, forcing Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan to give Virat Kohli a catch at slip for three, reducing Bangladesh to 75-5.
The 28-year-old spinner then removed Nurul Hasan (16), Mushfiqur Rahim (28) and Taijul Islam (0) to put India firmly in control.
With AFP inouts
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