BAN VS IND - 2nd Test, India tour of Bangladesh, 2022

The trophy is given to Rahul who is soon joined by his teammates as they pose for the photographs. It's curtains on India's tour of Bangladesh. The ODI series went to the hosts who sealed it with a game to spare while India won the dead rubber game. The tourists took the honors in the Tests but there are surely areas to work on. Hope you enjoyed our coverage of the series. Until next time, this is Hari Sadanandan signing off on behalf of Nikhil Jadhav and Siva. Merry Christmas!!!

KL Rahul | India captain: You trust the guys in the middle (during such situations). We've played enough cricket to realise that someone will put their hand up to win us the game. But I'm not going to lie, there was a lot of tension in the dressing room. It was a tough wicket to bat on, they put us under pressure in both innings. It was a new-ball surface to some extent, once ball got softer, it was easier to score runs. It was a matter of who plays the new ball better. We did lose a few more wickets than ideal (in the chase) but we got the job done. Will take the win. That (bowling attack) has been the case for the last many years now. Wherever we've gone overseas in recent years, we have done the job.

Cheteshwar Pujara | Player of the Series: It's been a great competitive series. I have been working hard on my game. Played lot of First-class cricket and then worked a lot on my game, that's what helped me score these runs. Sometimes, there is enough gap between Test matches, it helps you prepare. I think playing First-class cricket is really important for improving. You need to be mentally prepared and I believe that if you are strong mentally, and prepare well, you'll be good.

Ravichandran Ashwin | Player of the Match: We didn't have much batting left. It was one of those games where we let the game drift whenever we could have shut it off. Shreyas batted beautifully. Sometimes these situations you feel like you have to get ahead of things, they bowled good lines and I felt that we didn't trust our defences enough. Loved the way Shreyas batted. Pitches are quite good here. But I thought the ball got soft really quickly. Credit to Bangladesh, they put us under real pressure at certain moments.

Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh captain: Everyone contributed. We always knew that we had chance in Mirpur. Very good Test cricket, that's what the crowds love to see. Both teams were really good. Credit goes to Shreyas and Ashwin, they absorbed the pressure well and built a partnership. We had 70-odd runs to play with, just needed one wicket. We can think of several ifs and buts, but I'm proud of the way we fought. That (all-round skills) is my job, unfortunately couldn't bowl much last game. We had our moments this year but hopefully, next year will be much better for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will rue their first innings batting performance, not just in this game but also in the last Test match. It's often the first innings that sets up games and their collapse on the first day really set them back. If they had batted a bit better, anything could have happened on these last few days. Credit to India's bowlers, they were outstanding right through the series and despite a debatable team selection for this game, the tourists ticked all the boxes with the ball. For Bangladesh, young Zakir made a mark in his first international series and there is some serious talent there to work with. Das continued on his merry ways and he seems to be in a real purple patch at the moment. He'd want to make a lot more of this form though, especially in Tests where 50s and 60s aren't enough for a specialist batter. Those need to be converted into centuries. For India, Pujara and Iyer stood tall while Pant continued to be the team's premier Test batter. The form of Rahul and Kohli is a major worry, particularly with a massive Australian series coming up at home.

STAT: Highest 8th wkt stand for India in 4th innings
74 L Amar Singh - Lall Singh v Eng Lord's 1932 (first ever Test)
71* S Iyer - R Ashwin v Ban Mirpur 2022
70 Kapil Dev - L Sivaramakrishnan v SL Colombo 1985

11:18 Local Time, 05:18 GMT, 10:48 IST: Ashwin punches the air in delight, Iyer is elated too and so are their teammates in the dressing room. It was a canter at the end but let that not fool you - this was a proper thriller of a game. Bangladesh will wonder how they let this slip, having had India tottering at 74/7 not so long ago. At that point, the target of 145 looked a long, long way ago. It required the cricketing smarts and temperament of the Ashwin-Iyer partnership to bail the visitors out. The duo showed everyone exactly how to play on a turning surface, negating the challenge with a fine mix of caution and aggression. The intent clearly surprised Bangladesh who couldn't find an answer to the duo's counterpunch. They did have a chance early though, when Mominul put down Ashwin at short leg. In all fairness though, 145 was never going to be a threatening score but Mehidy and co almost pulled it off for the hosts. India may have won this game but there are serious concerns to ponder about, notably the form of their senior men. Some of the batting against spin has been unbelievably bad, more so when you factor in that these are sub-continental players - those who are supposed to be good against spin.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz to Ashwin, FOUR, there it is! Ashwin-Iyer make it 2-0 for India! The winning hit comes through another boundary. Slightly short by Mehidy and Ashwin sits back to whip it away wide of mid-on. Races away

Ritesh: Ashwin in Sydney (20-21), Ashwin in Ind v Pak (2022) last ball, Ashwin in Bangladesh this match, he knows how to handle pressure

Mehidy Hasan Miraz to Ashwin, FOUR, Ashwin wants to finish it off in a hurry now! Tossed up, fullish and he makes a hint of room to go cleanly over mid-off. Easily done. India just a hit away now

Mehidy Hasan Miraz to Ashwin, no run, sliding in on leg stump, Ashwin hangs back and blocks

Mehidy Hasan Miraz to Ashwin, no run, quicker and fuller on off, Ashwin gets across and defends

Mehidy Hasan Miraz to Ashwin, 2 runs, thick edge, it's the arm-ball and Ashwin pushes at it. The nick sneaks past slip and trickles towards third man. A brace

Mehidy Hasan Miraz to Ashwin, SIX, Ashwin greets Mehidy with a one-handed six! Some shot this and the crowd is stunned. So is Mehidy. Half-tracker, there to be hit alright but it's the execution that's entertaining. Sits back and the bottom hand comes off as he pulls with a clean followthrough. Way over deep mid-wicket

Mehidy Hasan Miraz [18.0-4-47-5] is back into the attack

Shakib to Ashwin, 1 run, sliding in on leg stump, Ashwin stays back and clips it past mid-wicket

Vikas: Escaping the limelight, Iyer has been tremendously consistent this year and has been solidifying his case for every format.

Ashwin isn't happy with some movement behind the bowler's arm near the sightscreen. Same reason why he bailed out last over against Khaled. He is clearly very annoyed.

Shakib to Ashwin, 2 runs, fumble at mid-off, allows a bonus run! Pressure starting to tell on Bangladesh now. How quickly the game changes! Shanto the culprit, this was nudged towards him and the batters went for a tight single. Was always a run there and the misfield allows a second as well

Shakib to Ashwin, no run, quicker one around off, Ashwin stays back and blocks

Shakib to Ashwin, no run, slower and wider, arm-ball, Ashwin shoulders arms