Shakib Al Hasan lands in Kolkata as India and Bangladesh battle it out at Eden Gardens

India is currently having an upper hand against Bangladesh in the only first-ever pink ball Test in the country, being played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The inaugural day-night Test saw BCCI leaving no stone unturned on day one of the Test with many dignitaries being invited to grace the event.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had rung the famous Eden bell on day one, in the presence of Ganguly, Nazmul Hasan, and Sachin Tendulkar. The participants of Bangladesh team which played their first-ever Test against India in 2000 were also felicitated, along with many current and former India greats were given a lap of honour.

Shakib Al Hasan has been banned by the ICC for two years

Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan has reportedly landed in Kolkata on a private business trip. The no.1 all-rounder in the world has been banned by the ICC for two years, with one year of that being suspended, for not reporting corrupt approaches from bookies. If it hadn’t been for the ban, Shakib would have been leading the team in this series instead of Mominul Haque.

The visitors must love him to visit the ground and give them some motivation after being bowled out for 106 on day one with Ishant Sharma picking 5/22. It is not clear whether Shakib can enter the stadium during his ban period, or meet the players in the dressing room, but they are actually missing his experience in both the departments and as a captain.

If the first innings failure with the bat was not enough for the visitors, two of their players were hit on the head and were replaced by concussion substitutes. Mehidy Hasan replaced Liton Das, while Taijul Islam came in place of Nayeem Hasan, with both of them ruled out of the game. This was the fifth time, a concussion substitute was used in the Test matches and the fourth time it happened when the Indian team was bowling, after Darren Bravo and Dean Elgar previously.

India, on the other hand, started off poorly, losing Agarwal for 14 and Rohit Sharma for 21. Cheteshwar Pujara made 55 and Virat Kohli slammed the first hundred by an Indian in the day-night Test match, scoring 136 runs before getting out to Ebadot Hossain.  Ajinkya Rahane also made a half-century.

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