While the whole Indian cricketing fraternity was busy with the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Auction, the Indian national team was playing a Test match against Bangladesh. The KL Rahul-led team played the second day of the second Test on Friday (23 December). After bowling out Bangladesh for 227 in their first innings, India scored 314, taking an 87-run lead. With ample time left on Day 2, Bangladesh too batted for a while.
The opening pair of Najmul Shanto and Zakir Hassan batted for six overs before the umpire called it stumps on Day 2. India could have chipped in a couple of more overs if Najmul Shanto had not wasted time in changing bats and tying shoelaces. Virat Kohli too got irked at this frequent stoppage in the game due to Shanto’s strange antics. The Indian batter then vented out his frustration by sledging the Bangladeshi batter.
As Shanto was tying his shoelaces at the non-striker’s end, Kohli, who was standing at slips, asked the batter to take out his shirt as well. "Kapde bhi utaar de," Kohli was heard as saying. Notably, the incident took place after the fifth ball of the sixth over of Bangladesh's second innings, following which the umpires called for stumps.
Coming to the game, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer played a gem of innings. Both batters scored half-centuries and put together 159 runs for the fifth wicket. While Pant got out on 93 while trying to up the ante, Shreyas Iyer departed after scoring 87 (105). R Ashwin (12), Jaydev Unadkat (14), and Umesh Yadav (14) added crucial runs to propel India over 300.
With the ball, Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, and Jaydev Unadkat took a wicket each in the first session to reduce Bangladesh to 71/4 at lunch.
