Virat Kohli won the toss in the first ever India vs Bangladesh Test match on Indian soil, and from there the batsmen took control, putting the home side firmly in the driver's seat after day one of the action in Hyderabad.
India vs Bangladesh day one highlights
On a wicket that had a fair smattering of grass on it, Kohli, who went with the extra pacer bowler in the team, had no hesitation to bat first, but the start was not what India would have imagined.
KL Rahul's penchant for playing poor shots came back to haunt him again, with the right-hander falling prey to the excellent Taskin Ahmed. After a couple to start his and India's innings off, Rahul (2, 4b) went for an expansive drive and only managed to get an inside edge with the ball rebounding off his pads and onto the stumps.
That wicket, in the first over of the match, would have given Bangladesh hope of getting into the India middle order early, but Vijay and Pujara shut those hopes out with a 178-run partnership, albeit after surviving a few chances, before Kohli played a brilliant, easy-on-the-eye innings.
Pujara's innings was a little streaky, not as solid as you would come to expect from the right-hander. There were a couple of outside edges that, luckily for the batsman, fell short or evaded the slip fielders.
The first came when he was at 11, with Kamrul Islam Rabbi inducing a genuine outside edge, only for the ball to fall a couple of feet short of first slip. If there was a catch to be taken, the wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim had to go for it, but he was rooted to his spot.
On 21, Pujara again got an outside edge off the off-spinner Mehedi Hasan, with the ball flying past Shakib Al Hasan. Vijay would also do the same soon after as India lived a little dangerously.
The two right-handers were, for the large part, untroubled, taking their time initially, especially after losing Rahul so early, before increasing the tempo of the innings.
Shots started to flow from their bats once they got to terms with the pace of the pitch, especially with Mushfiqur overbowling Rabbi a little – the fact that they did not pick three seamers might have played a part in that decision – and soon Bangladesh were thinking more about containing rather than staying on the attack, with those in and out fields coming into play with the spinners on.
Both Mehedi and Shakib Al Hasan, who strangely only bowled two overs in the first session, both of them maidens, just seven in the second, and a mere four in the third, found very little turn, but they did create a problem or two every now and then.
The best chance to break the partnership, however, came with half an hour to go to Lunch. Vijay played a ball to the onside near square leg and what followed was a mighty misunderstanding. There was yes and no, yes and no, with Pujara eventually taking off for the single, while Vijay didn't, which meant both batsmen were, at one point, at the same end.
It should have been a simple run out for Bangladesh, but Mehedi failed to gather the throw from Rabbi cleanly, allowing Vijay to scamper home.
The two India batsmen rolled along nicely post lunch, with the Bangladesh bowlers unable to do too much as the sun baked the wicket, slowing it down even more and making batting all the more comfortable.
It was about staying patient and trying to build pressure for the Bangladesh bowlers, and while they did not succeed too much with the latter, they kept plugging away to their credit.
Taijul Islam and Shakib were tidy, without causing too many problems and while runs kept coming, Taskin showed he could cause a worry or two by bring some reverse-swing into play as the second session wound down.
However, it was the teenager Mehedi who would break the partnership, by getting the big wicket of Pujara, who fell right after breaking the Indian record for the most runs in a first-class season. After trying his hand at an around-the-wicket line, which did not quite work, Mehedi came back over the wicket and that immediately did the trick, with Pujara (83, 177b, 9x4) getting an outside edge, which hit the right flap of Mushfiqur before popping up to allow the wicketkeeper to complete the catch.
That wicket might have ended a big partnership between Vijay and Pujara, but Bangladesh realised they had little time for celebration when Kohli walked in and thumped his first ball for a boundary, showing his intent.
Vijay and Kohli stayed together till Tea, before the former completed his ninth Test match hundred.
As is often the case, Vijay (108, 160b, 12x4, 1x6) lost his concentration after completing his century, getting bowled around the legs to Taijul while going for a fine sweep, but Kohli was in a different league.
The runs kept flowing off the captain's bat, which allowed Ajinkya Rahane, whose place in the XI has been questioned with the emergence of Karun Nair, to take his time to settle.
Bangladesh were in defensive mode now, forced to play the waiting game in the hope that Kohli would make a mistake. Even when the new ball was taken from over number 82, the runs kept coming, with Rahane, now in the groove, also playing a few attacking shots.
With the overs winding down, the crowd wanted Kohli to complete his century before the end of the day's play and he obliged, with a whip to midwicket for a boundary bringing up the three-figure mark in just 130 balls, as India, led by their ridiculously-gifted skipper, enjoyed a fine batting day under the Hyderabad sun.
Scores:
First innings: India: 356/3 in 90 overs at stumps on day one.
First session: 86/1 in 27 overs.
Second session: 120/1 in 31 overs.
Third session: 150/1 in 32 overs.
Batting in the middle: Virat Kohli (111, 141b, 12x4) and Ajinkya Rahane (45, 60b, 7x4).
Bowling: Bangladesh: Taskin Ahmed 16-2-58-1; Kamrul Islam Rabbi 17-1-91-0; Soumya Sarkar 1-0-4-0; Mehedi Hasan 20-0-93-1; Shakib Al Hasan 13-3-45-0; Taijul Islam 20-4-50-1.
Fall of wickets: India: 2/1, KL Rahul (0.4 overs); 180/2, Cheteshwar Pujara (50.5 overs); 234/3, M Vijay (63.4 overs).
