How India 'Gam-ball'ed Kanpur Test to catch Bangladesh unawares

If there was one person who can be credited with revolutionising Test cricket in the past two years, it has to Brendon McCullum. The former New Zealand star batter took over as England Test team coach in 2022, and went on to redefine their approach to the longer format by introducing a fearless and aggressive brand of cricket, which came to be known as 'Bazball', after McCullum's nickname 'Baz'.

Though the 'live by the sword, die by the sword' approach had more highs than lows for English cricket, thus making it exciting to watch, purists such as Nasser Hussain, Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Chappell advised caution, especially in the face of defeats—like the 1-4 drubbing by India earlier this year.

India, however, took a leaf out of England's book, with their own version of Bazball in the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur. With only 35 overs possible on day one, and play abandoned on the second and third days because of rain and wet outfield, almost everybody expected the match to meander to a dull draw.

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However, day 4 proved to be a banger, as India took the game by the scruff of the neck. First, they dismissed Bangladesh within the next 40 overs, with the addition of just 126 runs. Mominul Haque played a lone hand, with a gritty unbeaten 107, while Jasprit Bumrah led the way in the bowling department with 3/50.

What followed was a T20 match in whites! Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (72 off 51 balls) and skipper Rohit Sharma (23 off 11 balls) blew away the Bangladeshi bowlers with their 'Gam-ball' (a wordplay on Bazball, inspired by India's new coach Gautam Gambhir) version. The hosts raced to fifty in just three overs, 100 in 10.1 and 200 in 24.2—the fastest ever in Tests! India broke their own record for the fastest hundred by 2.1 overs, which they made against the West Indies in Port of Spain in 2023.

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India also broke the record for fastest 150 and 250—the previous fastest 150 was also by India, in 21.1 overs against West Indies last year, while the previous fastest 250 was made in 34 overs by England against Pakistan in 2022.

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The dismissals of the openers brought no respite for the visitors, as Virat Kohli (47 off 35 balls) and KL Rahul (68 off 43) continued the assault, with support from Shubman Gill (39). Even pacer Akash Deep slammed two sixes in a five-ball 12, before India declared at 285/9.

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Ravichandran Ashwin then dismissed Zakir Hasan and Hasan Mahmud in his successive overs, to leave Bangladesh at 26/2 at stumps, still 26 runs behind India.

Day 5 saw the Indian bowlers making short work of the Bangladeshi batters, with Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Bumrah claiming three wickets each to dismiss them for 146. Akash Deep, chipped in with the impotant wicket of Shadman Islam, who top-scored with a half-century. Post lunch, India knocked off the target of 95 in 17.2 overs, losing three wickets, to win the series 2-0. Jaiswal top-scored with 51.

It is India's 18^th consecutive Test series win at home.