Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha admits to being surprised on India’s approach in second Test

Hyderabad: Bangladesh cricket team’s head coach Chandika Hathurusingha said Bangladesh were taken by surprise by India’s onslaught in the first innings in the second Test match at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur and added that his team did not react quickly and let India make a match out of it.

Inclement weather meant only 35 overs of play were possible on the first day with the second and third days plays completely washed out. Bangladesh were all out for 233 in the first innings on the fourth day and India scored 285/9 in their first innings in just 34.4 overs at a run rate of 8.22 runs per over.

India also broke the record of scoring the fastest team 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 in their first innings, sending Bangladesh reeling.

That set the tone for a result in the rain-affected Test match with Bangladesh surrendering to India’s bowling troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who shared nine wickets among them, to bowl Bangladesh out for 146, giving India a target of just 95, which they achieved with close to two sessions of play left in the final day.

Speaking at the post match press conference, Hathurusingha said the approach that India took in their first innings was never seen before in Test cricket. “This approach was not seen before and we did not react quickly and credit to Rohit and his team for taking such an approach and making a game out of it,” he said.

Bangladesh came to India after beating Pakistan 2-0 in a two-Test match series but were soon pinned down by India and Hathurusingha said the defeat is hurting. “The defeat really hurts us and it’s because of our performance. Our batting has been disappointing. We have not been performing to our potential in the last few series,” he said.

He added that the series is a learning curve for all Bangladesh players and said skill wise, India were on a different level. “Another factor is also the quality of the opposition, and the skill level on display in this series was very high, and we are learning a lot from here. Going forward, we will know what the top standard is, since this is the best team. Playing India is the toughest assignment at this stage, so we know how much we need to improve,” he opined.

India and Bangladesh will next play three T20 internationals.