India consolidated their position at the second top of the world Test rankings with a hard-fought three-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the low-scoring second Test in Mirpur.
It was a typically tough Test match for India, who were made to work hard for their win by a Bangladesh side who put up a brave fight. The game was effectively decided in the final session on the fourth day when India’s batsmen showed great resolve to chase down a target of 145 runs.
After day 3, India was down by 4 wickets and needed 100 more runs to win. Resuming there on day 4, India was in big trouble in the first hour as they lost 3 important wickets, and all of a sudden they were 74 for 7.
At that time, Bangladeshi bowler Mehidy Miraz completely dominated the visitors, taking another fifer by his name. Bangladesh was dreaming of a test win against India after so many years. But the story was something else.
India still needed 71 runs to win and Iyer and Ashwin were on the pitch, slowly sailing toward the shore. With their strategic play and knowledge of how to handle the difficult batting conditions, these two batsmen brought India back into the game.
Ashwin and Iyer’s impressive batting gave India the victory they needed to gain an advantage in the cricket test match against Bangladesh. Ashwin contributed an unbeaten 42 off 62 balls and Iyer made 29 runs.
Ashwin was named Player of the Match and Pujara Player of the series for bagging 222 runs in 2 Tests at an average of 74.00.
According to Sport News BD experts, Bangladesh could have won the match when Mehidy created a chance for Ashwin’s dismissal but in the short leg, Mominul dropped the catch. This mistake cost the match badly.
This win was India’s eighth Test win in 14 matches in the World Test Championship 2021-2023, and they have now ranked second in the point table. They are the dominant force in world Test cricket at the moment, and it will take a very good team to beat them.