Senior batsman Shikhar Dhawan proved his form and fitness in style before the South African series as he led India A's strong reply against Bangladesh A with an unbeaten century on Day 1 of the only unofficial cricket Test here on Sunday.
Responding to the visitors' score of 228, India A rode on a 112-ball 116 not out by skipper Dhawan to post 161 for one at stumps in the three-day game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. India A still trail by 67 runs.
Sharing a 153-run opening stand with Abhinav Mukund (34), Dhawan carried his bat through to the end of day's play with Shreyas Iyer for company (6 not out).
Missing the two Sri lanka Tests after sustaining a hairline fracture in his hand in the opening match in Galle, Dhawan has fought back well from injury to make an impression right away.
Earlier put to bat, Bangladesh A suffered from lack of partnerships as Sabbir Rahman (122 not out) and Shuvagata Hom (62) stood tall amidst the batting ruins. Nasir Hossain (32) was the only other batsman to get into double figures as the innings saw six ducks.
Pacer Varun Aaron (4-45) and off-spinner Jayant Yadav bagged (4-28) four wickets each to rip through the Bangladesh A batting.
Aaron first sent back Soumya Sarkar (0) with a beauty on his very first ball he bowled. It was a delivery which Sarkar nicked to wicketkeeper Naman Ojha.
Aaron did not stop at that, he wreaked havoc with good support from Abhimanyu Mithun (1-51) and Ishwar Pandey (1-48) from other end. The Indian discard made captain Mominul Haque to chase a away moving ball into the safe pairs of gloves of Ojha for two.
Aaron reared one up to promising star liton Das (0) so alarmingly that the he had no option but to give a catch to Baba Aparajith (substitute). He rounded up the day by making Hom give away a catch to Karun Nair. Aaron presented a case for retaining him in the Test side with four wickets, but he will be the first one to acknowledge that he will have to work much harder for wickets in international cricket. He made an accurate start to his day, pitching the first ball just short of a length and just outside the off stump of the left-hand opener Soumya Sarkar. Sarkar pushed at it, and down the wrong line, to edge it behind. These kinds of things happen when you put the ball in that avenue of apprehension, but a first-class No. 3 - and a captain of side - rarely goes out of his way to nick a ball that has odds of being called a wide - even in first-class cricket. Mominul Haque did just that, and Aaron had two wickets in his first over.
Anamul Haque played loosely outside off to Ishwar Pandey, and liton Das flicked Aaron straight to mid-on to make it 4 for 6 in the sixth over. This brought together Sabbir and Nasir. The latter has been the thorn in the sides of the Indian teams on this tour, and he began doing the same. Not without luck, though, with edges flying safely often. However, his tendency to move away from the line of the ball got him soon enough. Abhimanyu Mithun produced the perfect delivery for a such a batsman: holding its line just outside off to take the edge.
Sabbir and Hom were more assured than the previous 44-run stand. Sabbir played some attractive shots, was severe against anything pitched short, and treated spinners with disdain. He hit 18 fours and a huge six off offspinner Jayant Yadav. Aaron, though, came back in the afternoon to end that resurgence. This was his most important wicket of the day, arguably the only one he had to work for. He bowled with pace, he bowled with bounce, and then pitched one outside off to see Hom not get close to the line and edge it behind the wicket, fifth such dismissal out of the first six.
Sabbir then dominated the 38-run seventh-wicket stand, of which Saqlain Sajib scored just four. One moment Sabbir was on his knees to do the sajda, after reaching his hundred, and on the next, he was down on his knees in exasperation after watching the last four batsmen fail to provide any resistance. They all fell to gentle offbreaks from Jayant.
Yadav (4-28) also shared honours with Aaron as he got rid of Saqlain Sajib (4), Shafiul Islam (0), Rubel Hossain (0) and Jubair Hossain (0), in 46 balls he got to ball.
Bangladesh A were 50 for five at one stage before Rahman and Hom put on 132 runs for the sixth wicket to give some respectability to the visiting batting card.
But it was Dhawan who remained the star of the day with his hundred coming up in just 97 balls. This was Dhawan's third successive first-class ton after two Test centuries in Fatullah and Galle.
Dhawan, who came out to bat with a hope of spending some quality time to check out if there is any discomfort while batting, struck 16 boundaries and two sixes against a listless Bangladesh A attack.
The left-handed batsman showed positive intent sending the visiting bowlers on a leatherhunt, something he is known for when he stormed into the Test arena cracking a scintillating debut hundred against Australia.
With the pitch dying down later in the day, it was an onerous task for Bangladesh A bowlers. Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Saumya Sarkar and Saqlain Sajib and others failed to stop the Indian openers, who faced little difficulty in negotiating their attack.
Brief Scores
Bangladesh A: (1st innings): 228 all out in 52.5 overs (Shabbir Rahman 122 not out, Nasir Hossain 32, Shuvagata Hom 62, Varun Aaron 4/45, Jayant Yadav 4/28) lose to India A: (1st innings): 161/1 in 33 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 116 not out, Abhinav Mukund 34) by 9 wickets.