Injured Ravindra Jadeja's probable replacement left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar has made his case for Test debut with a four-fer for India A against Bangladesh A on Day 1 of the first unofficial Test. Bangladesh A were bundled out for a paltry 112 after a massive batting collapse within two sessions on Day 1.
Indian pacers Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini started off the proceedings. Saini, who was a part of India's famous Gabba win, got the first wicket in his first over. Opener Mahmudul Hasan (1) Joy got bowled by the pacer. Mukesh Kumar who got his maiden ODI call-up for home series against South Africa struck in his second over with the wicket of the other opener Zakir Hasan (0).
Mukesh followed it up with the wicket of veteran Bangladesh batter Mominul Haque (4) in the fourth over he bowled. Najmul Hossain Shanto hit four boundaries during his stay at the crease. Saini, which could have been his last over of the spell with new-ball delivered with the wicket of Shanto (19). Atit Sheth joined the party as well as he got the wicket of skipper Mohammad Mithun off the first ball of 14th over. The hosts lost half their side for a score of 26.
Saini came back for more later in the session and got the wicket of Jaker Ali (4). The wicketkeeper-batter was looking to block it out but got out off the 47th ball he faced. He stitched a crucial partnership with Mosaddek Hossain.
Mosaddek recently got dropped from the ODI squad after below par performances in T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. With a point to prove, Mosaddek rescued Bangladesh A. With the help of Taijul Islam (12), he got the score past 100.
Left-arm spinner Saurabh broke the seventh-wicket partnership in the second session. Meanwhile, Mosaddek had reached his half-century. Taijul was dismissed in the 41st over. Saurabh then got the big wicket of Mosaddek as well. He scored 63 runs from 88 deliveries including six fours and three sixes. Saurabh then got rid of tailenders Rejaur Rahman Raja and Khaled Ahmed for their respective ducks. Saurabh bowled eight overs including three maidens, conceded 23 runs and picked up four wickets.
After a commendable bowling display, India A openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhimanyu Easwaran shared an unbeaten 120-run partnership. Jaiswal scored 61 runs from 106 deliveries including eight fours whereas Easwaran scored 53 runs from 11 deliveries including six fours. At Day 1 Stumps, India A had an eight-run lead with 10 wickets in hand.
