The Kanpur Test commenced on Friday (27 September) with India and Bangladesh taking the field. Having lost the toss, Bangladesh began their innings but struggled early on, losing two wickets within the first hour.
However, the visitors managed to steady their innings towards the end of the session, reaching 74 runs at the lunch break, largely due to the resilience of Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque.
In the opening half-hour, openers Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan weathered the attack from India's pace duo, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj, effectively.
Unlike the Chennai wicket, the Kanpur pitch was accompanied by overcast skies, creating favourable conditions for the seamers, with the ball swinging 0.2 degrees more than in the previous Test.
Despite these testing conditions, Zakir and Shadman held their ground. Zakir cautiously played out Bumrah's initial three overs without scoring, while Shadman had a couple of lucky escapes, edging deliveries twice to the slip cordon, though both chances were missed. Shadman accounted for all the runs from the opening partnership.
After the first 30 minutes, Indian captain Rohit Sharma introduced a change in the bowling attack, replacing Bumrah and Siraj with Ravichandran Ashwin from one end and Akash Deep from the other. While Ashwin was handled with relative ease, disaster struck when Akash claimed both openers in quick succession. Zakir, yet to open his account, edged Akash's first over to gully, gifting India their first breakthrough.
Just four overs later, Shadman too fell prey to Akash’s inswinging delivery. Shadman misjudged the ball, which struck his pad. Although the umpire initially turned down the appeal, Akash, exuding confidence, immediately went for a review. Despite some doubts within the Indian team, the review showed the ball striking the leg stump, compelling the umpire to overturn his decision. Shadman returned to the pavilion after scoring 24 runs off 36 balls.
With two quick wickets, Bangladesh found themselves on the back foot. Nevertheless, the team regrouped, thanks to the defiance shown by Shanto and Mominul. The pair saw off the remainder of the session, forming an unbroken partnership of 45 runs for the third wicket before heading into the lunch break, offering Bangladesh some much-needed stability after the early blows.
