When he blasted Taijul Islam through square-leg for a four, raised his arms and turned towards the dressing room, Mayank Agarwal saw captain Virat Kohli signalling to him to concentrate and convert his 150 into a double hundred.
Objective achieved
Little over an hour later, the in-form opener charged down the wicket and heaved Mehidy Hasan into the stands, again turned around to the dressing room and raised two fingers to indicate to his captain that the objective had been achieved.
Mayank’s second double-hundred in as many series ensured that India was on track to take a lead in the two-Test series against Bangladesh.
Thanks to Mayank, the protagonist, ably supported by Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja, India continued to toy with a hapless Bangladesh. Despite Mayank’s marathon knock coming to an end towards the fag end of the second day’s play, India finished with 493 for six — with a lead of 343.
Delight for the crowd
Barring the first half an hour, when Cheteshwar Pujara (caught in the cordon just after crossing his fifty) and captain Virat Kohli (missed one that shaped back in for a rare duck) perished to an impressive Abu Jayed, the rest of the day’s proceedings were a delight for the 13,500-strong turnout at the Holkar Stadium.
Mayank continued his prolific run in Tests this season by making a mockery of the Bangladesh bowlers. He first rescued the team from a spot of bother after Kohli’s dismissal with a 190-run association with Ajinkya Rahane.
By the time Rahane played an uppish cut to deep point and lost out on a deserving hundred, Mayank had already switched gears. Ravindra Jadeja joined Mayank and the duo ended the day with a bang.
Going berserk
India pounded 407 runs off 88 overs to put the Indore fans in danger of being deprived of enjoying cricket on Sunday. A whopping 190 of those were scored off the 30 overs in the last session, with Mayank going berserk.
The stylish opener tonked all the Bangladesh bowlers as he added 87 off 79 balls. He was especially harsh on the spinners Taijul and Miraz as the duo gave away 212 runs off 48 overs they shared on the second day.
While Mayank showcased his trademark drives through covers and straight punches to the seamers, his prowess against the spinners came to the fore time and again. His nimble footwork and astonishing timing reflected in the fact that all his eight sixes — including the one that took him his double hundred — sailed well over the fence.
Supporting role
With Mayank on song, Rahane, after starting the innings with a couple of confident boundaries, switched to a supporting role in the afternoon session. Still, the Mumbai batsman’s crafty innings was yet another example of his ability to bail the team out.
In the second over after tea, with the second new ball still being hard, Rahane was dismissed against the run of play and gave Jayed his fourth wicket.
Jadeja, after a cautious start, cut loose to put India in a position to declare overnight. It will be interesting to see if Kohli lets Jadeja go for his hundred on Saturday morning or unleashes his bowlers on the Bangladesh batsmen straight away on day three.
Scoreboard
BANGLADESH — 1ST INNINGS
150
INDIA — 1ST INNINGS
Mayank Agarwal c Jayed b Mehidy 243 ( 330b, 28x4, 8x6 ), Rohit Sharma c Liton b Jayed 6 ( 14b, 1x4 ), Cheteshwar Pujara c sub (Saif) b Jayed 54 ( 72b, 9x4 ), Virat Kohli lbw b Jayed 0 ( 2b ), Ajinkya Rahane c Taijul b Jayed 86 ( 172b, 9x4 ), Ravindra Jadeja (batting) 60 ( 76b, 6x4, 2x6 ), Wriddhiman Saha b Ebadot 12 ( 11b, 2x4 ), Umesh Yadav (batting) 25 ( 10b, 1x4, 3x6 ); Extras (lb-1, nb-3, w-3): 7; Total (for six wkts. in 114 overs): 493.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-14 (Rohit, 7.2 overs), 2-105 (Pujara, 29.5), 3-119 (Kohli, 31.5), 4-309 (Rahane, 85.4), 5-432 (Agarwal, 107.3), 6-454 (Saha, 110.5).
BANGLADESH BOWLING
Ebadot 31-5-115-1, Abu 25-3-108-4, Taijul 28-4-120-0, Mehidy 27-0-125-1, Mahmudullah 3-0-24-0.
