Shami, Ishant combine to pick team hat-trick

A day after skipper Virat Kohli rated his fast bowlers as the best in the world, Indian pacers led by Mohammed Shami grabbed a team hattrick just after tea when Ishant Sharma dismissed Liton Das, on Day 1 of the first Test on Thursday.

Mohammed Shami grabbed two wickets off the last two balls before tea to dash any Bangladesh hopes of a revival as they were left reeling at 140/7 at tea.

Just after the break, Ishant had Das caught at first slip by Kohli who took a sharp low catch to complete the team treble and underline their supreme dominance in fast bowling in the last couple of years.

It was fitting for Ishant to grab the hattrick wicket as he has been around for the longest time among his teammates and is the senior most member of the side.

In the post-lunch session, Kohli brought back Shami for a short spell before the break to try and get rid of Mushfiqur Rahim as the batsman was looking good for a half century.

In the fifth delivery of the 54th over, in-form Shami rattled Rahim’s stumps with a searing inswinger that pitched outside off and came back in sharply to bamboozle the batsman. Mushfiqur was gone for a well-made 43 off 105 balls, his innings laced with four fours and a six.

In the very next ball, Shami trapped new batsman Mehidy Hasan in front to go into the break on a hat-trick. Hasan thought of reviewing it, but after consultation with non-striker Liton Das (21 batting), he walked towards the dressing room.

On the eve of the match, Kohli had said: “Well, if you ask we are right at the top. I won’t even count ourselves among the top 3. These guys deserve it. When we started off, that was the conversation. When I took over as captain, I really wanted to see our fast bowlers dominate world cricket.

“Spin was never an issue, batting was never an issue. After Zak (Zaheer Khan) and all these stalwarts went away, we were thinking how can we get back to the top and have the ability and the firepower to pick up 20 wickets.

“Just see the way they have bowled. It’s their belief that stands out. Any kind of pitch, any kind of opposition. They believe they can get more out of any pitch than the opposition. That belief matters a lot.

“I couldn’t be more happy for them. The best thing is they are still not done yet. They are getting hungrier every time they go out. And they love bowling together. I think that’s their biggest strength. The trust, the camaraderie and the belief they have is pushing this team forward,” said the captain.