BAN vs IND: Watch Mohammed Siraj glares and sledges Najmul Shanto, gets a smile in return

After a very frustrating half in the morning, Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj wanted to spice things up and started sledging Najmul Shanto to break his concentration. The same tactic worked really well in the first innings against Litton Das as the 28-year-old was dismissed right on the next delivery but it however didn’t bother Shanto, as the Bangladesh opener smiled and turned away from the scenario.

The incident happened shortly after the 24-year-old scored his second half-century in the longest format of the game. In the 34th over, Siraj first gave him a glare and on the very next ball, started sledging to discompose the batter. The speedster who picked up three wickets in the first innings tried his luck once again in his next over, but Shanto was determined and didn’t engage in any form of a verbal fight.

His bat, however, didn’t remain quite as on the third ball of the 36th over, he pulled the shorter delivery from Siraj to score a boundary that brought up the 100-run partnership for the Bangladesh opening pair.

The openers paving the way for a late comeback 

Chasing a target of 513 runs in the fourth innings of the first Test at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, the Bangla Tigers were in dire need of an impactful start. The openers rose to the occasion and put up a 119-run mark partnership without a loss of any wicket till lunch of day four. 

Like Shanto, Zakir Hasan too looked rock solid and scored an important half-century in the second innings of the match. For Bangladesh to make a comeback and register a monumental victory, these two cricketers will need to bat for the majority of the time. 

For India, left-arm off-spinner, Kuldeep Yadav will be very essential when the ball gets older. The 28-year-old picked up a fifer and dismantled Bangladesh’s batting line-up in the first innings. He once again needs to step up before Bangladesh takes the game away from India’s hand.