India vs Bangladesh One-Off Test Report: Indian Spinners Bowl Well but Match Ends in a Draw

The one-off Test match between India and Bangladesh ended in a draw as bad light stopped play on Day 5 in the final session at Fatullah on Sunday.

Bangladesh, who were following on after getting all out in the first innings, ended with 23 runs on the board without losing a wicket at the end of Day 5.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh came out to bat with seven wickets in hand in their first innings with 111 runs on the board. Before the final day's play, rain had already spoilt almost all the days, including Day 2 when not even a single ball could be bowled. 

The Indian spinners, especially, Ravichandran Ashwin was right on the money from his very first ball that he bowled on Day 5. Ashwin picked up five wickets in the first innings. While his other senior spinning partner Harbhajan Singh, who made a comeback to the India Test squad after two years, picked up three wickets. 

Bangladesh were bundled out for 253 and Indian skipper Virat Kohli enforced the follow on upon the hosts in the third session of Day 5. Imrul Kayes was the best batsman for Bangladesh as he scored 72 in the first innings until he was completely foxed by Harbhajan Singh with a flighted delivery. Kayes stepped out and misjudged the length and Wriddhiman Saha took the bells off in a flash. 

Youngster Litton Das, who made his debut for Bangladesh, showed some resistance during his well fought 44, but he too was dismissed by Ashwin. The wicket was clearly assisting the spinners right from the start of Day 5 and Kohli kept on pressurising the Bangladeshi batsmen with Ashwin and Harbhajan from both the ends. 

However, the match ended in stalemate despite some brilliant bowling by Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh. The one-off Test could have had a result if the rains did not spoil the game right from Day 1.

Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan batted really well in this match and scored a century each. Ajinkya Rahane was flamboyant yet again during his unselfish knock of 98 runs in the first innings.

The Indian pace attack did not get much movement off the deck, but in spite of that they bowled well. Varun Aaron got a solitary wicket of Soumya Sarkar while Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav went wicketless.

Kohli's aggressive intent despite the rains hitting several sessions of the Test was worth watching. When he enforced the follow on upon the hosts, he just bowled Yadav for two overs and got his spinners -- Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh -- who picked up eight wickets together in the first innings.

Bangladesh would want to look back into this Test match and try to find where they went wrong and which are the areas they need to improve in their upcoming series against South Africa. India, who dominated most of the sessions of the Test, would be disappointed as the match ended in a draw. Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes remained unbeaten in the second innings until the weather yet again forced to stop the game. 

India will be looking forward to the three-match ODI series that they are to play against the Bangla Tigers. The leadership of the side will exchange hands as MS Dhoni will be joining the squad ahead of the ODI series. India would look for a whitewash while the hosts would look to give a tough competition to the former world champions.