Openers take India to 36/0 at lunch as Kuldeep takes five; Bangladesh all out for 150
Chattogram (PTI): Skipper KL Rahul and young Shubman Gill were cautious in their approach as India reached 36 for no loss in their second innings at lunch after Kuldeep Yadav's third five-wicket haul helped them dismiss Bangladesh for a paltry 150 on the third day of the opening Test here on Friday.
Rahul (20 batting) and Gill (15 batting) didn't take any undue risks as India's overall lead swelled to 290 after the Indian captain decided against enforcing the follow-on on the hosts.
Playing his first Test match in 22 months, Kuldeep registered career-best figures of five for 40 as Bangladesh could survive only 55.5 overs in their first innings.
Pacer Mohammed Siraj (3/20 in 13 overs) deserved equal credit for his incisive spells on second afternoon and evening.
With a lot of deliveries starting to keep low in the second Indian innings, the spin troika of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep and Axar Patel will be eager to come out on fourth and fifth day to ensure full 12 World Test Championship points for the team.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan introduced fellow slow left-arm orthodox Taijul Islam in the very second over of the Indian second innings with pacer Ebadot Hossain complaining of back pain.
Being a bowler short will also badly hurt Bangladesh's plans, if Ebadot is unable to bowl further in the contest.
While Gill stepped out once and also survived an on-field leg-before decision courtesy DRS, Rahul was solid in his defence at the other end as he hardly attacked the bowling save one cover driven four in Khaled Ahmed's opening over and a drive through point off Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
At the start of the day, Kuldeep completed his third five-wicket haul when Ebadot (17)'s 37-ball vigil ended when his faint tickle down the leg-side was smartly snapped by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
It was Mehidy (25 batting), who fought doggedly and played the maximum number of balls (82) but had little support at other end before he became Axar Patel's only victim of the innings.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
