The Indian cricket team fought extreme odds to create a situation where they could find themselves in a match-winning situation in the second Test against Bangladesh. More than two and half days were washed out in the Kanpur Test because of rain and wet outfield, but Rohit Sharma‘s men decided to go down fighting over letting the match roll into a drab draw. After India bowled out Bangladesh on Day 4, Rohit led the team’s attacking start with the bat, raining boundaries at the Green Park Stadium. Later, KL Rahul revealed a crystal clear message from skipper Rohit that inspired the team’s pyrotechniques with the bat.

Team India ended up putting 285/9 on the board on Day 4 before Rohit decided to declare the innings. En route, India also managed to break the records of scoring fastest team 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250. Rohit and Jaiswal also scripted history as a pair, registering the fastest 50-run partnership in Test history.

“The message was very clear from the start. We lost a couple of days due to rain. Most of the game was lost to weather, but we wanted to see what we could do in the time that was left. The plan was simple: find a way to play for the win,” said Rahul.

“We lost a couple of wickets, but since Rohit’s message was so clear that it didn’t matter if we got out, we tried to do that.”

India maintained a similar attacking intent with the ball in the second innings on Day 5. Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets each as the hosts bowled out Bangladesh for 146 in the second innings. 

Despite seeing more than 2 days of the match being washed out, India pulled themselves in pole position to win the match, requiring just 95 runs to seal the series 2-0 in Kanpur. The hosts eventually secured the victory by 7 wickets, strengthening their WTC final hopes further.