This Defeat Is Really Hurting- Head Coach, Bangladesh
“This defeat is really hurting us,” Bangladesh’s head coach admitted. “This (India’s approach) was never seen earlier. All credit to Rohit and the Indian team to come up with that approach, and make a match out of this. We actually didn’t react quickly enough.” India’s aggression not only impacted the manner in which they set the fields or the lines they bowled, it also led to some bizarre errors on the field. Amidst all their defensive strategies though, there were spurts of attack from the visitors. For 62 minutes, in the company of Shadman Islam, Shanto had held up Bangladesh’s hopes of saving the Test. In that period, Rohit had thrown all his options at them. The spin attack of Jadeja and Ashwin, the unconventional fieldsets, Akash Deep’s attack from around the wicket, and even the most potent threat of Jasprit Bumrah. The left-handed duo got past all of it, and left Bangladesh in the most optimistic position they had found themselves in on the final day. That dismissal proved decisive.
Three more wickets followed in the space of the next 22 minutes and Bangladesh were just left with their tail to drag the innings along. By the time they were bundled out, India needed 97 runs to win with two sessions of play left. Suddenly, time wasn’t at a premium in the game, and expectedly India finished the formalities with nearly as much aggression as they had put on till then. Coming at the back of a historic series win in Pakistan, the whitewash in India has pushed Hathurasingha to more self-reflection of his team. “One reason for the batting failure was the quality of the opposition was really high. The skill level on display in this series (by India) was very high. “So, we are taking a lot of learning from this and that’s a positive. Going forward, we need to know what the top standard is. This is the best team and the best competition in terms of international cricket. Coming here, playing in India is the toughest assignment at this stage. So, we know how much we need to improve.” That the Kanpur Test lasted only 173.2 overs and that the Kanpur Test witnessed a last-day finish are both equally true. Put together, it’s also equally descriptive to explain the reasons why the two teams approached the game in the manner in which they did. 312 balls is all that India batted.
It was the fourth least number of balls taken by a team to win a Test. It was the best run-rate India had batted with ever in a Test match. In fact, it was the best run-rate maintained by any team across two innings. The urgency of the win may have been triggered by the World Test Championship points at stake. It has allowed Indian cricket to explore the depths of their own potential, avenues which they might not have otherwise gone to, just like in Dominica 2011. Or maybe it’s just a mantra that Indian cricket has taken ever since Virat Kohli had attempted the final-day chase in Adelaide in 2014. Not that it required the Kanpur Test victory to enhance India’s reputation as a Test team at home, where they haven’t lost a series in 12 years. Yet, so emphatic and so different was it from all their other wins, that it eventually went on to add to the aura of invincibility that few teams have enjoyed over a century of Test cricket. There are few games in Test cricket that can dull the viewing of England’s Bazball currently. India at Kanpur 2024 was certainly one of those.
