BAN vs IND, 2nd Test: Pant, Iyer lead fightback after collapse (Tea, Day 2)

Dhaka [Bangladesh], December 23 (ANI): Wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer scored unbeaten half-centuries to guide India to 226/4 going into tea in the second test here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.
Resuming post lunch session at 86/3 India got off to a worst possible start losing Virat Kohli for 24 by Taskin Ahmed caught behind by wicket-keeper Nurul Hasan to leave India tottering at 94/4.
Shreyas Iyer walked out to bat and along with wicket-keeper batter Pant took India's total beyond triple-figure mark.
Pant continued to bat in his trademark aggressive style alongwith Iyer as the duo struck a fifty-run partnership to guide India beyond 150-run mark.
Southpaw Pant also notched up his 12th half-century in just 49 balls. The Pant-Iyer pair looked unstoppable to take their partnership beyond triple-figure mark in 116 balls and in process India went past 200-run mark.
Iyer too batted aggressively to score his half-century of just 60 balls. India managed to score 226/4 going into Tea break trailing Bangladesh by just one run with six wickets in hand.
Resuming day-2 at 19/0, Shubman Gill (14*) and KL Rahul (3*) were extremely conservative in the morning.
Both batters found run-scoring difficult as the Bangladeshi bowlers were brilliant with their lines and lengths on a difficult pitch that aided the bowlers.
The bowlers kept probing and finally got rid of stand-in captain KL Rahul in the 14th over. Taijul found the right-hander in front of the wicket and ended the batter's scratchy stay at the crease for just 10 runs.
Gill also followed his captain to the pavilion, getting dismissed in a similar fashion for 20 runs.
Virat Kohli and Pujara then steadied the innings and were looking confident against the Bangladeshi bowlers. Pujara reached the tally of 7000 runs in Test cricket overtaking Sir Don Bradman's 6996 run count en route to his 24-run knock. But then Taijul struck for the third time to dismiss Pujara for 24 runs. The wicket reduced India to 72/3.
The left-arm spinner Taijul Islam dismissed KL Rahul, Shubhman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara to hand the advantage to the the hosts.
Rishabh Pant played his shots from the moment he set foot on the crease while Virat made sure that India walked into lunch with no further hiccups.
The spinners produced some tidy overs in tandem and restrained scoring as Taijul emerged as the session's top bowler by taking all three wickets.
Virat was unbeaten on 18 runs while Pant made 14 before the umpires called the lunch break, with India at 86/3.
Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav's four-wicket hauls helped India bundle out Bangladesh at 227 on Day 1 of the ongoing second Test match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on Thursday.
Bangladesh were bowled out for 227 as Ashwin and Umesh starred for India with 4 wickets each and Unadkat got two wickets.
Bad light forced early stumps, India's score at 19/0 with Shubman Gill (14*) and KL Rahul (3*) standing unbeaten at the crease.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 227/10 (Mominul Haque 84, Mushfiqur Rahim 26; Umesh Yadav 4-25) vs India 226/4 (Rishabh Pant 86*, Shreyas Iyer 58*; Taijul Islam 3-55) (ANI)