India Overcomes Rain and Outfield Challenges for Remarkable Victory Against Bangladesh in Shortened Test Match

India secured a resounding seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the 2nd Test at Kanpur, completing a convincing 2-0 series sweep. The trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja were instrumental in bowling out Bangladesh for a mere 146 runs. Chasing a target of 95 runs, India cruised to victory with Yashasvi Jaiswal shining with his second half-century of the match. Despite facing disruptions due to rain, India managed to wrap up the Test in just two and a half days, showcasing their determination and skill. This remarkable win will be remembered as one of India's finest performances, overcoming adversity and demonstrating their dominance in the World Test Championship cycle.

When play finally resumed on Monday, Day 4, the final outcome of the Test was still a blur before the Indian batting grabbed the bull by its horns and unleashed a brutal assault. Their first innings total of 285/9 declared from just 34.4 overs was just the tonic India needed as the assault left Bangladesh shellshocked. After India became the team to score the fastest 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 in a Test inning, they put Bangladesh in again with 52 runs ahead, out of which 26 were scored for the loss of two wickets. On Day 5, India started as outright favourites, while Bangladesh needed to conjure arguably their best batting of all time to settle for a draw.

And not surprisingly, in the end, it was Team India, who emerged with the bragging rights. They drew first blood with Ashwin dismissing last innings' centurion Mominul Haq, falling to the shot that fetched him success en route to his 13th Test century – the sweep finding KL Rahul at leg slip. Shadman Islam and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto tried to weather the storm by adding a partnership of 55 runs for the fourth wicket. Just as Bangladesh looked to be resisting the Indian attack, Shanto played the most outrageous reverse sweep to give Ravindra Jadeja a wicket in his first over.

This dismissal was the beginning of a string of poor shot selection from Bangladesh. Jadeja then took out Litton Das out caught behind for 1 and completed a simple caught and bowled to possibly end Shakib's Test career with a duck. From there, the stage was set for Bumrah to do this thing, and once again, the India pacer did not disappoint. Mehidy Hasan was out caught behind and Taijul Islam trapped leg before wicket. The last-wicket-pair of Mushfiqur Rahim and Khaled Ahmed frustrated India. Rahim ensured he took singles off the last ball of ever over to keep himself on strike. This led to the session getting extended by half an hour but in the end, and although it was good while it lasted, Rahim's 37-run vigil ended when he tried to hit Bumrah for a booming cover drive, only to get his stumps rattled last ball before lunch.

The question from India’s point of view was whether their intentions in the second innings was going to be anything like yesterday. Experts felt no, while the public was pretty confident. Eventually, it was a mixture of the two as India came out pretty confident – not going berserk every over but not holding back either. The moment Rohit Sharma stepped out to Mehidy in the first over, you knew it wasn't going to be a typical Test match chase.

The India captain paddle swept his way to the first boundary of the innings, but found the fielder in the deep, nailing a sweep straight down Hasan Mahmud's throat. Shubman Gill started with a boundary too but got done in by a delivery that turned sharply and caught him plumb in front of the stumps.

Virat Kohli and Jaiswal took more a more conventional approach Jaiswal resumed from where he left off on Monday, blazing his way to a 43-ball fifty – his second of the Test following a knock of 72 yesterday – whereas Kohli settled in. A wristy flick and a rare sweep shot got Kohli up and running before he switched gears by stepping out to Taijul Islam for a four and six. With India three away from win, Jaiswal fell to Taijul's bait but Rishabh Pant scored the winning boundary to ensure India stayed at the top of the table in the WTC standings.