Bangladesh produced a strong fightback against India on Day 4 of the first Test in Chattogram. Chasing a 513-run target, the hosts batted an entire day, finishing at 272/6 with debutant Zakir Hasan scoring a valiant century. Zakir (100), alongside Najmul Hossain Shanto (67), stitched a 124-run stand for the first wicket before the Indian bowling lineup made inroads, with Axar Patel taking three important wickets.
The Bangladesh opening pair, however, frustrated the Indian bowling attack as Zakir and Shanto batted through the entire first session; following Shanto's dismissal, Zakir took over the run-scoring duties and at one point and continued to toil hard through the second session. At one point, India star Virat Kohli even employed distraction tactics against Zakir as he was approaching his maiden century.
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Zakir remained untroubled, bringing up some well-judged sweep shots to keep the India spinners at bay. The sweep shot eventually got him his century off 219 balls when he swept Axar behind square for a boundary.
{{/usCountry}}Zakir remained untroubled, bringing up some well-judged sweep shots to keep the India spinners at bay. The sweep shot eventually got him his century off 219 balls when he swept Axar behind square for a boundary.
{{/usCountry}}Zakir became the fourth Bangladeshi batter and first opener from the country to hit a century on debut after Aminul Islam, Mohammad Ashraful and Abul Hasan.
He survived four more balls before Ravichandran Ashwin (1-75) dismissed him for his only wicket on the day. Zakir hit 13 fours and one six for his 100 off 224 balls.
Axar, then, dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim (23) and Nurul Hasan (3) in the same over to inflict a late double blow. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan played some attacking shots in the late afternoon as Bangladesh saw off the day without further damage.
Earlier, India put 404 in the first innings and then declared 258/2 in the second, with Shubman Gill (110) and Cheteshwar Pujara (102*) smashing centuries in the latter. Bangladesh, meanwhile, were bowled out for 150 with Kuldeep Yadav taking his third five-wicket haul in the longest format of the game.