Bangladesh left chasing leather

Hyderabad – Murali Vijay (above) backed his red-hot skipper Virat Kohli to pile on the agony for Bangladesh after centuries from both players gave their visitors a harsh reality check in India yesterday.

India were 356/3 at stumps on the first day of the one-off Test in Hyderabad’s Uppal Stadium, with Kohli unbeaten on 111 and Ajinkya Rahane also there on 45.

Bangladesh conceded 71 runs in the final 10 overs of the day as a rampant Kohli raced to his 16th Test century, capitalising on the solid foundations laid earlier in the day by Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Their second-wicket partnership was worth 178 runs, with Vijay ultimately out at 108 and Pujara making 83, as the world’s No 1-ranked Test team looked to stretch their record-breaking unbeaten run to 19 Tests.

Taskin Ahmed, Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam shared a wicket each for the visitors but the day belonged firmly to their hosts.

“It’s always a great sight to see Virat play ... he has taken his game to a different level at the moment,” Vijay, who shared a 54-run stand with his skipper, told reporters after the close of play.

“I thought 340 would be a good score at the end, but he (Kohli) made the extra 10 to 20 runs possible. The way he was striking the ball was fantastic.”

Bangladesh started the day well as seamer Ahmed bowled Lokesh Rahul for two in the very first over of the match but soon the Indian batsmen got into their stride.

Vijay and Pujara then laid the platform for other batsmen to build on as they took the attack to the opposition.

Pujara, who hit two centuries in the recent England series, surpassed former Indian batsman Chandu Borde’s domestic record of 1 604 runs in a season.

Vijay smashed 12 fours and a six during his 160-ball stay before being bowled by Taijul early in the final session. – AFP