As Bangladesh A’s tail wagged vigorously to prevent India A from winning the first unofficial Test match in Cox Bazar on Friday, left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar staked a strong claim as Ravindra Jadeja’s replacement for the upcoming Test series with a match-haul of nine wickets. This enabled Saurabh Kumar to make a strong case for the replacement role.
After giving up a massive first innings lead of 353 runs, Bangladesh A were left hanging by a thread at 343 for 9 when the match finished in a draw after battling for 151 overs in the second innings.
After taking four wickets in the first innings, Saurabh was outstanding in the second innings, posting figures of 5/63 in 43 overs. However, the inability of off-spinner Jayant Yadav to penetrate the batting order (1/134 in 47 overs) proved to be the deciding factor in whether or not the game would end in a loss or a draw.
In compared to Saurabh’s match stats, which looked strong (51-21-86-9), Jayant’s figures were a dismal showing.
Because the Haryana fielders were unable to make breakthroughs, Abhimanyu Easwaran decided to bring in Sarfaraz Khan for a session. Khan also took a wicket during his time on the field.
Zakir Hasan, who batted for almost to ten and a half hours and faced a total of 402 balls, was the primary architect of Bangladesh’s draw as he was the seventh batsman to be dismissed by Saurabh. Zakir Hasan scored 173 runs.
Zakir and Nayeem Hasan’s important stand of 13 runs at the eighth wicket was the crucial partnership that rescued the day for Bangladesh A. (5 off 45 balls). They were successful in stopping India for 15.4 overs, which turned out to be an important factor.
The No. 10 and No. 11 batsmen, Rejaur Rahaman Raja (5 not out, 16 balls), and Khaled Ahmed (0 not out, 2 balls), defended the final 14 deliveries of the game to ensure that the game would end in a draw.