HYDERABAD: Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehedi Hasan made gritty half-centuries as Bangladesh try to prevent the follow-on against a dominant India on the third day of their one-off Test on Saturday.

Mushfiqur (81 not out) shared a 107-run fifth-wicket stand with Shakib Al Hasan (82) before putting on an unbeaten partnership with young Hasan to frustrate the hosts. Mehedi was batting on 51.

The visitors were 322 for six at stumps, needing another 166 runs to avoid the follow-on against the world’s number one Test side.

“We will want them [Mushfiqur and Mehedi] to play the first session and maybe we can score 100-120 runs that can take us close to the follow-on saving, which is our first target as of now,” Shakib told reporters. “Obviously India is in front foot...at this moment we are still a long way from the match.”

The wicket-keeper/batsman Mushfiqur, who took 35 balls to move from 46 to 50, tackled the Indian bowlers with patience on a pitch that still looked good for batting.

Mushfiqur took a nasty blow on his finger from pacer Ishant Sharma in the final over of the day, only to hit the bowler for a boundary off the very next delivery.

“When the situation is tough he likes to stand up and do the hard work for the team and that character obviously helped him playing for so long and doing well for Bangladesh,” Shakib said of his captain.

Mushfiqur found a perfect partner in Mehedi to stage a fightback after the visitors were left reeling at 235 for six in the afternoon session.

Mehedi, who claimed two wickets in the Indian innings with his off-spin, showed great batting temperament to register his maiden Test fifty in just his fifth outing.

The 19-year-old all-rounder, who made his Test debut against England in Chittagong last year, has struck 10 boundaries during his 103-ball knock so far.

Mushfiqur’s crucial stand with Shakib, who registered his 21st Test half-century, helped Bangladesh recover against a formidable bowling attack.

The left-handed Shakib played some attacking cricket during a brisk knock laced with 14 boundaries, but admitted to having faced a testing spell from Indian seamer Umesh Yadav, who claimed two wickets.

“Well obviously he was bowling really well probably the best spell I faced in my career the way he was moving the ball both ways it was tremendous, all credit goes to him,” Shakib said of his Indian Premier League (IPL) team-mate Yadav.

Shakib eventually ran out of steam, losing his wicket to India’s premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin after mistiming a drive to mid-on.

Starting the day on 41 for one, the visitors made their way to 125-4 at lunch with Indian pacers compounding Bangladesh’s woes in their first-ever Test on Indian soil.

India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar praised skipper Virat Kohli’s five-bowler theory that according to him helped India succeed in recent times.

“I think our bowling has been doing really well...It also leads to number of victories you got because of the five bowler combination. Virat backs [harps] quite a lot on that,” Bangar said. “It’s very important that the bowling unit is developed in such a fashion that even when India tours overseas, spinners will have to play a particular role, and role reverses for seamers when they play in India.”

The hosts had put themselves in a commanding position after Kohli smashed 204, steering the team to a record total of 687-6 declared against Bangladesh.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings) 687-6 declared (V. Kohli 204, M. Vijay 108, W.P. Saha 106 not out, C.A. Pujara 83, A.M. Rahane 82, R.A. Jadeja 60 not out; Taijul Islam 3-156).

BANGLADESH (1st Innings, overnight 41-1):

Tamim Iqbal run out 24 Soumya Sarkar c Saha b Yadav 15 Mominul Haque lbw b Yadav 12 Mahmudullah lbw b Sharma 28 Shakib Al Hasan c Yadav b Ashwin 82 Mushfiqur Rahim not out 81 Sabbir Rahman lbw b Jadeja 16 Mehedi Hasan not out 51

EXTRAS (LB-13) 13

TOTAL (for six wkts, 104 overs) 322

FALL OF WKTS: 1-38, 2-44, 3-64, 4-109, 5-216, 6-235.

TO BAT: Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi.

BOWLING (to-date): Kumar 17-6-46-0; Sharma 16-5-54-1; Ashwin 24-6-77-1; Yadav 18-3-72-2, Jadeja 29-8-60-1.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2017