Bangladesh vs India, 1st Test Stats Review: Cheteshwar Pujara’s first century since January 2019, Zakir Hasan’s feat and other stats

Centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill and an eight wicket-haul from Kuldeep Yadav helped India in thrashing Bangladesh by a huge margin of 188 runs in the first of the two-match Test series in Chattogram. Pujara ended his century drought as he reached the three-figure mark for the first time in 52 innings while youngster Gill registered his maiden Test ton in the second innings as the visitors dominated the Bangla Tigers in the entire match.

Earlier, skipper KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bat first. Pujara contributed in the first innings too as he amassed 90 while Shreyas Iyer scored 86. R Ashwin also joined the party to hit 58 as the tourists posted 404 on the board. Spinners Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz snared four scalps each for the home side. Shakib’s side got bundled out for just 150 in their first innings as Mohammed Siraj picked up three wickets while spinner Kuldeep grabbed a five-wicket haul (5/40).

Pujara and Gill made the Bangladeshi bowlers toil hard with the duo reaching their respective centuries. Experienced campaigner Pujara smacked his fastest century in 130 deliveries while Gill reached his milestone for the first time in the Whites. India declared their second innings for 258/2, setting a massive target of 513 for the hosts.

Opener Zakir Hasan impressed one and all by slamming a hundred in his maiden Test while his partner Najmul Hossain Shanto mustered 67. Captain Shakib played an aggressive innings of 84 off 108 which included six fours and as many maximums but he failed to get support from the rest of the batting line-up. Axar took four while Kuldeep bagged three scalps as India dismissed Bangladesh for 324 to win the opening game and take a 1-0 lead in the series. For figures of 8/113, Kuldeep won the Player of the Match award.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from the 1^st Test between Bangladesh and India:

50 – Rishabh Pant reached the landmark of 50 sixes in Test matches. He became the second Indian wicketkeeper after Mahendra Singh Dhoni (78) to achieve the feat.

54 – Pant became the second Indian and third fastest overall to complete 50 Test sixes in 54 innings. Shahid Afridi and Rohit Sharma reached it in 46 and 51 innings respectively.

6 – Cheteshwar Pujara has played six innings against Bangladesh and has racked up a fifty-plus score in each of them. His scores read as 83, 54*, 54, 55, 90, and 102*.

149 – Pujara and Shreyas Iyer registered the highest fifth wicket partnership of 149 for India against Bangladesh in Tests. They went past Mayank Agarwal and Ravindra Jadeja’s stand of 123 in Indore in 2019.

1 – Iyer became the first Indian to complete double figures in each of his first Ten Test innings.

14 – Iyer has smashed the most 50-plus scores (14) for India in international cricket in 2022. He surpassed Virat Kohli’s tally of 13 such scores.

4021 – Pant reached the milestone of 4000 runs across formats in 136 innings.

67.60 – Pujara and Pant have shared 676 runs in ten innings at a solid average of 67.60 with two century and five half-century stands.

87 – Kohli has managed to amass just 87 runs in his last six innings at a poor average of 17.40 and the highest score of 23.

6 – Pujara has smashed the most 50-plus scores (six) for India against the Bangla Tigers. He went past Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of five such scores.

1 – Shubman Gill recorded his maiden Test century in 23 innings.

51 – Pujara slammed his first century after 51 Test innings. His last hundred came against Australia in Sydney in January 2019.

130 – Pujara also smacked his fastest hundred in 130 deliveries. Previously, he brought up a ton in 146 balls against West Indies in Mumbai in 2013.

4 – Zakir Hasan became the fourth Bangladeshi batter to slam a hundred (100) on debut. The other three players are Aminul Haque (145) against India in 2000, Mohammad Ashraful (114) against Sri Lanka in 2001, and Abul Hasan (113) against West Indies in 2012.

124 – Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir registered the highest opening partnership of 124 for Bangladesh against India in Tests. Previously, Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes shared a 53-run stand in the year 2010.

2 – Shanto and Zakir became the second pair to register a century-opening partnership (124) for Bangladesh in the fourth innings of a Test. Javed Omar and Nafees Iqbal shared a 133-run stand against Zimbabwe in Dhaka in 2005.

15 – Zakir became the 15^th player overall to smash a hundred against India on Test debut.

7 – Zakir also became the seventh Bangladeshi to hit a ton in the fourth innings. The other six batters are Nafees against Zimbabwe in 2005, Mohammad Ashraful against Sri Lanka in 2008, Mushfiqur Rahim against India in 2010, Shakib Al Hasan against New Zealand in 2010, Junaid Siddique against England in 2010, and Mominul Haque against Sri Lanka in 2014.

293 – Virat Kohli has now taken the seventh-most catches as a fielder (293) in international cricket. He went past Graeme Smith’s tally of 292 grabs. The top six places are occupied by Mahela Jayawardene (440), Ricky Ponting (364), Ross Taylor (351), Jacques Kallis (338), Rahul Dravid (334), and Stephen Fleming (306).

44 – Axar Patel is now the leading wicket-taker (44) for India after the first seven Tests. R Ashwin occupies the second position with 43 scalps.

8/113 – Kuldeep Yadav registered the best figures (8/113) by an Indian spinner against Bangladesh in a Test. Previously, Sunil Joshi took 8/169 in Dhaka 22 years back in 2000.

6 – Shakib smashed the most sixes (six) by a Bangladeshi captain in a Test innings. Shakib himself hit three against New Zealand in 2010 while Mahmudullah also struck three sixes against the Kiwis in the year 2019.