We could have bowled India out if we had taken those chances: Taijul Islam

After enduring early blows in the batting innings, team India managed to bounce back by ending Day 1 with 278/6 in the first of the two-match Test series in Chattogram. Stand-in skipper KL Rahul decided to bat first after winning the toss following which the side lost their top order in quick time.

Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam made a blunt assessment of the Indian innings and claimed that his side could have dismissed India had they taken their chances. The Bangla Tigers ran out of luck on numerous occasions, first, when vice-captain Cheteshwar Pujara was on 12 and was dropped by wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.

This was followed by Shreyas Iyer who was on 30 runs, was dropped by Nurul again. Ebadot Hossain who found some rhythm with the ball managed to hit the stump but to his bad luck, the bails were not dislodged completely which handed Iyer another chance in the match.

“We could have bowled them out if we had taken those chances. If they had lost five to six wickets with 10 to 15 overs in our hand then it was possible to bowl them out. Considering everything I don't think we are in a very bad position and in fact in a good position as this is only the first day of the Test match. If we had not made the mistakes we would have been in a better position,” said Taijul as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Picking the wicket of Virat doesn't need to be the highlight of my career: Taijul Islam

India star batter Virat Kohli, who took the field after the dismissal of KL Rahul, was completely foxed by Taijul with a sensational drift in his ball. Kohli had no answer to the drift in the delivery and was bamboozled completely by the left-arm spinner. Taijul further stated that scalping the wicket of Kohli early on in his career should not be the highlight aspect.

"I have picked up the wicket of Virat earlier in my career so doesn't need to be the highlight of my career. I think the line and length was good and perhaps he missed on quite a few occasions but I felt that the ball (which removed Pujara) turned quite sharply. He felt it will be straight but as it turned it hit the stump,” he added.