India cantered to 356/3 at the end of the first day in their one-off Test against Hyderabad on Thursday, to put themselves in a commanding position. The star of the session was, without doubt, skipper Virat Kohli who stroked his way to a delectable unbeaten 111 off just 141 balls, his fourth century in the last seven Tests.
Kohli started off the third session with two imperious boundaries in the first over but all eyes were on Murali Vijay at the other end, who has resumed the session on 98. He duly got to his ninth Test hundred in the next over. In the next over, Mushfiqur Rahim and Bangladesh made a comical review, questioning a leg-before-wicket call to Kohli which had hit the bat and was nowhere near his legs.
Bangladesh did get the wicket of Vijay two overs later as left-arm-spinner Taijul Islam had the opener bowled around his legs but it would be their sole crumb of comfort. Rahane, into the team in place of triple-centurion Karun Nair, preferred to play low-risk cricket, happy to block and only got his first boundary off the 23rd ball he faced. He opened up a little bit more towards the end and finished the day on an unbeaten 45.
The Indian captain though was in prime form, picking the gaps at will and using his wrists to good effect in a pacy knock. He brought up his 16th Test century in typical flourish, with two gorgeous boundaries and celebrated in typically subdued fashion. India’s run rate at the end of the day was almost close to four which illustrated how comfortably they had batted against Bangladesh’s bowlers.
Brief scores:
India 356/3 (Virat Kohli 111 not out, Murali Vijay 108; Taijul Islam 1/50, Taskin Ahmed 1/58) vs Bangladesh
