The in-form Indian pace battery routed the fragile Bangladesh batting line-up, before Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli eased to typically classy half centuries as India reached 174/3 at stumps on Day 1 of the first pink ball Test in the country in Kolkata on Friday.
At stumps, Kohli was batting on 59 from 93 balls, his innings laced with eight fours. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was batting with him on 23 as the lead read 68 with seven wickets in the kitty. Pujara, who brought up his 21st fifty in 93 balls (8x4) failed to survive the final hour
Asked to field first, the Indian pacers took 31 overs to dismantle Bangladesh with surgical precision to entertain the packed crowd at the Eden Gardens.
Ishant Sharma bagged a five-for, his 5/22 complimented by Umesh Yadav (3/29) and Mohammed Shami (2/36) as left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja only had to bowl one over.
Here’s a look at some of the numbers and trivia from the first day of the landmark Test match at the Eden Gardens:
- Virat Kohli has established a record for taking least number of innings (86) to complete 5,000 runs as captain in Tests, eclipsing the 97 innings taken by Australia's Ricky Ponting.
- Virat is the sixth captain to achieve the distinction in Tests, joining Graeme Smith (8659), Allan Border (6623), Ricky Ponting (6542), Clive Lloyd (5233) and Stephen Fleming (5156).
- Virat's 23rd fifty in Tests is his first vs Bangladesh.
- Virat has completed his 5,000 runs while batting in the first innings - his tally being 5017 in 82 innings at an average of 63.50, including 21 hundreds and eleven fifties.
- Cheteshwar Pujara's fourth fifty (83 & 54 not out at Hyderabad in February 2017; 54 at Indore and 55 at Kolkata in 2019) vs Bangladesh is his 24th in Tests. He is the second Indian batsman after Sourav Ganguly and the eight overall to register four successive fifties against Bangladesh in Tests.
- Pujara, in his last five Test innings, has recorded four fifties - 81 at Visakhapatnam & 58 at Pune - both vs South Africa; 54 at Indore and 55 at Kolkata.
- Pujara has completed his 15,000 runs in Tests when his score reached 12.
- Indian bowlers Bangladesh have delivered 30.3 overs - the fewest bowled by them to bundle out a team in the very first innings of a Test match, eclipsing the 44.2 overs delivered by them to dismiss Zimbabwe (161) in the 2005 Harare Test.
- Ishant Sharma's first instance of a five wicket in an innings against Bangladesh is his tenth in Tests. Ishant's superb figures of 5 for 22 are his best in a Test in India. Twelve years ago in December 2007, he had taken 5 for 118 against Pakistan at Bengaluru in his second Test - his first Test in India.
- Indian pacers have taken all ten wickets in a Test innings for the fourth time in India - the first three instances were against England at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai in 1981-82; against West Indies at Ahmedabad in 1983-84 and against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2017-18.
- Mohammed Shami, with 33 wickets at 15.39 runs apiece in eight Tests, is the top wicket-taker for India this year. Among the bowlers with 20 wickets or more this year, his average is the best.
- Mayank Agarwal has become the first Indian player to manage 750 runs in Tests this year - his tally being 754 (ave.68.54) in eleven innings (eight Tests). His tally is bettered only by Steven Smith's 774 (ave.110.57) in seven innings (five Tests).
- Bangladesh (106) have registered their second lowest score against India in Tests - their lowest ever remains the 91 at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka in November 2000.
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