Kuldeep Yadav continued his wizardry with a phenomenal five-wicket haul on Day 3 of the first Test against Bangladesh at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Friday (December 16). Riding on his sensational spell 5/39, he became the first India bowler to take a fifer in Chattogram.
Following his Day 2's 4/33, he took no time to go all guns blazing on Day 3 as he trapped Ebadot Hossain for 17 to leave Bangladesh wobbling at 144/9.
Yadav collected his third career five-wicket haul in Tests and also bettered his own best bowling figure of 5/57 which came against West Indies in Rajkot back in 2018. Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj has scalped three and Umesh Yadav has got one wicket so far. Earlier, India had scored 404 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara (90) and Shreyas Iyer (86) being the top run-getters. Stand-in India skipper KL Rahul had won the toss and opted to bat first against Bangladesh.
Earlier in the first innings Kuldeep also contributed with a crucial 40 with the bat as he paired with Ashwin to stitch a vital 92-run partnership to steer India from 293/7 to a commanding 404. And then took Bangladesh batters to cleaners with his outstanding spell of 4/33 to leave the hosts teetering at 133/8 at the close of Day two.
India's star pacer played his previous Test against England in February 2021 and he certainly wasn't the first choice in the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh. However, the team management gave him a go and the star spinner delivered.
Beside becoming the first Indian bowler to record a Test five-for in Chattogram, Kuldeep is also the only India bowler to snare five-wicket hauls in all three formats of the game.
Kuldeep, who made his Test debut in 2017, now owns 31 wickets in eight games. Besides three fifers, he also has a couple of four-wicket hauls in Tests.
He also boasts a Test five-fer on Australian soil. His other Test five-wicket haul was recorded vs West Indies at home.
