Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto achieved a rare feat even before a ball was bowled at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on September 19. Shanto became the first captain in 42 years won win the toss at the venue and opted to field first. As the history suggests, captains have often chosen to bat first at the venue but considering the seam-friendly conditions, Shanto included three seamers and looked for early wickets.
"I'll like to bowl first. There's moisture on the wicket and we want to make use of it. Pitch looks hard and there's moisture. The first session will be very good for the seamers," said Shanto after winning the toss.
Not just Shanto, Indian skipper wanted to bowl first too as he said at the coin toss. Both captains included three seamers each in their lineup.
"I would have done that as well (bowl first). Little soft, the pitch. It's going to be challenging conditions," said Rohit at the coin toss.
Mahmud dominates batters in first hour of play
Shanto’s move paid off. The ball moved around and caused problems for the batters in the first hour of play. Hasan Mahmud exploited the conditions well and got three wickets in his first spell. The first to fall was captain Rohit who edged it to first slip fielder Shanto. In his fourth over, Shubman Gill fell for an eight-ball duck. He edged one to wicketkeeper Litton Das. The wicketkeeper took another regulation catch as Virat Kohli got lured into a drive away from his body. Kohli departed after scoring just six runs from as many balls. India were reduced to 34 for three wickets in 9.2 overs.
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What happened when a captain opted to bat first in Chennai 42 years ago?
England's Keith Fletcher was the last captain to opt to field first in Chepauk. Against Sunil Gavaskar-led side, he backed his pacers. However, Gundappa Viswanath's double ton
and Yashpal Sharma's century helped India post 481/4 before declaring. In reply, Grahan Gooch scored a century whereas David Gower and Ian Botham hit fifties. England were bowled out for 328. However, the Test ended in a draw as both teams played over 150 overs in their respective first innings.
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