After defeating Pakistan 2-0 in away conditions, Bangladesh arrived with high expectations on their tour to India, to play two Tests and three T20Is against the hosts. However, things took a different turn after the end of first Test in Chennai, where the visitors suffered a crushing 280-run defeat against India. Bangladesh had a good start to the Test match when they reduced India to 144/6 in the first innings on day one, but they only had an upper hand against the hosts till then. Ravichandran Ashwin’s century and Ravindra Jadeja’s 86-run knock took the game away from Bangladesh as India posted 376 in the first innings.
Bangladesh were bowled out for just 149 runs in the first innings, and f rom that point onwards, there was no realistic chance for them to make a comeback in the Test match. After that, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant also came up with their respective hundreds in the second innings as India set a mammoth target of 515 runs for Bangladesh to chase. Following that, Ravichandran Ashwin shone with the ball, taking six wickets as Bangladesh were bundled out for 234 runs, to help India take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. The visitors had a promising start to their India tour on day one of the Chennai Test, but went on to fail miserably after that. In the following listicle, we will have a look at three major reasons why Bangladesh are struggling in the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh.
Why Bangladesh are struggling in the Test series against India?
Batting failure
India posted a competitive total of 376 runs in the first innings, but Bangladesh failed to get anywhere near to India’s total. After bowling out India in the first innings, Bangladesh failed to perform to expectations with the bat, and they were bowled out for 149 runs, to concede a 227-run lead in the first innings. Shakib al Hasan was a top scorer with 32 runs. However, Bangladesh had a good start in the second innings while chasing 515 runs, but still, they went on to lose wickets in quick succession. Apart from Najmul Hossain Shanto’s captain’s knock of 82 runs, none of Bangladesh batters could go past 40 runs in the second innings.
Senior players failed to perform
Senior players from the team, including the likes of Shakib al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim failed to contribute for Bangladesh in the first Test against India in Chennai. Shakib was top scorer in the first innings with 32 runs, but couldn’t contribute more in the match as he got out for 25 runs in the second innings. On the other hand, Rahim failed to score a score of substance in both the innings as Bangladesh lacked support from other senior players as well.
Ashwin-Jadeja duo took the match away from Bangladesh
Star duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja was enough to take the Test match away from Bangladesh in Chennai. After India were reduced to 144/6 in the first innings, Ashwin and Jadeja put up a partnership of 199 runs for the seventh wicket as Ashwin (113 off 133) came up with his sixth Test hundred, while Jadeja also played a crucial knock of 86 runs off 124 balls. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja also performed well with the ball, especially in the second innings where Ashwin scalped six wickets, while Jadeja bagged three as India bowled Bangladesh out for 234 runs, to win the first Test by 280 runs.