After two rain-soaked days left the Test match hanging in the balance, the sun finally broke through, setting the stage for a tense battle between a resilient Mominul Haque and a disciplined Indian bowling unit. In an extended morning session on Day 4, India managed to take three crucial wickets, but Mominul stood tall, reaching an unbeaten 102 by lunch, despite offering India a couple of missed opportunities.
The pitch, under the sun after days of damp conditions, started to show better carry, though a few deliveries were still kept low on the black-soil surface. Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah set the tone early with disciplined, good-length deliveries, testing the patience of Mominul and Mushfiqur Rahim. Runs were hard to come by in the opening overs, with four of the first five being maidens.
Bumrah finally broke through, getting the ball to seam in sharply and clip Mushfiqur’s off-stump, after deceiving him with a similar delivery the ball before. Litton Das came in next, maintaining a left-right combination with Mominul, and briefly broke the shackles by hitting three boundaries in one Bumrah over. Mominul, meanwhile, brought up a composed half-century, anchoring Bangladesh’s innings from No. 3.
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However, Litton’s aggressive approach proved costly when he attempted an aerial drive off Mohammed Siraj, only for Rohit Sharma to pull off a stunning one-handed catch at mid-off. Soon after, Shakib Al Hasan’s brief stay ended when his attempt to use his feet against R. Ashwin led to another brilliant one-handed catch by Siraj, running back from mid-off.
Amid the chaos, Ravindra Jadeja, searching for his 300th Test wicket, was kept at bay by Mominul, who countered him with sweeps and well-timed lofted shots, one of which took him into the nineties with a six. Mominul had a couple of lucky escapes—first when Rishabh Pant missed a thin under-edge on 93, and then when Virat Kohli dropped a diving catch on 95.
In a fitting moment, Mominul reached his 13th Test century with a sweep shot, marking his first hundred since June 2023 and only his second outside Bangladesh. His gritty knock had accounted for the majority of the 98 runs Bangladesh scored in the morning session, helping to keep his team in the contest despite India’s sharp fielding and disciplined bowling efforts.