BAN vs IND, 1st Test: Ashwin, Kuldeep stitch 55-run stand to take India to 348/7 (Lunch, Day 1)

Chattogram [Bangladesh], December 15 (ANI): A resilient partnership of 55 runs for the eighth wicket from Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav took India to 348/7 at lunch on the second day of the first test against India here at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram.
Ashwin was batting at 40 from 81 deliveries and Kuldeep ended the first session with 21 runs from 76 balls as the pair extended India’s first-inning score.
India resumed their inning at 278/6 on the day two of the first test with Shreyas Iyer at 82 and Ashwin still to open his account.
Bangladesh came out with an attacking intent and used the short ball ploy against Iyer finding him wanting at times. Ebadot Hossain peppered the right-hander with short-pitched deliveries and was able to disturb the concentration of the right-hander. Iyer ran out of luck as the pacer snuck past his defence to disturb the woodwork and dismiss him for 86 runs.
The batter’s shortcoming against the short ball has been used by the opposition teams to break his flow in recent times and the Bangladeshi bowers resorted to the ploy to find his wicket.
Ashwin was decisive with his shot-making as the pitch offered a sharp turn to spinners coupled with uneven bounce. The batter found a resilient partner in Kuldeep Yadav as the spin duo batted with grit to deny the Bangladeshi bowlers wickets.
There was great competition between the bat and ball as the bowlers kept things tight to dry up the runs but the Indian pair was equal to the task as they watched closely and bind their time to occupy the crease.
Once they had gotten rid of the initial nerves and had their eyes set, both batters made full use of any scoring opportunity on offer. Kuldeep resorted to the sweep at times to fetch him runs as the duo looked solid against the bowlers.
Ashwin and Kuldeep will look to score freely in the second session to pile on some quick runs as the wicket is expected to flat out going forward.
brief Score: India 348/7 (Cheteshwar Pujara 90, Shreyas Iyer 86; Taijul Islam 3-103) vs Bangladesh (ANI)