Tendulkar, Ganguly lead Team India's recovery

CHITTAGONG: Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly decimated the Bangladesh attack with a clinical display of batsmanship and piloted India to a position of strength on the first day of the opening Test against Bangladesh on Friday.

Coming together after the visitors had lost opener Dinesh Karthick (56) and skipper Rahul Dravid (61) within the space of 12 balls, the two senior cricketers were involved in an unfinished 163-run fourth-wicket stand as India reached 295 for 3 at stumps.

Both Tendulkar and Ganguly had been excluded from the ODI team that played three matches against the hosts in the earlier part of the tour.

A determined Tendulkar, his innings embellished with seven boundaries, was unconquered on 80, while Ganguly remained unbeaten on 82 when play ended at the Bir Sreshta stadium.

Ganguly, who came up with some audacious strokes, hit ten boundaries and two sixes during his 132-ball knock, as the Indian willowers had a field day on a docile track that offered very little to the bowlers.

Earlier, Dravid and Karthick led the foundation of the Indian innings with a 124-run second wicket partnership that offset the loss of opener Wasim Jaffer off the first ball of the match.

The endless speculation about India's opening combination came to an end with Wasim Jaffer walking out into the middle alongside wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthick, but the ploy did not work.

The match started off sensationally, as pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza brought the sizeable crowd on to its feet by dislocating Jaffer's off stump with the first delivery of the match.

The ball pitched a shade outside the off stump and came sharply in, as Jaffer became the 25th player in Test cricket history to be dismissed of the opening delivery.

Skipper Rahul Dravid, coming in at number three, took a few balls to settle down before starting to punish the bowlers, especially Mortaza.

The 34-year-old batsman opened up in the fifth over picking up three boundaries of Mortaza, courtesy a cut over point and two exquisite cover drives, as 14 came off the over.

Karthick also played confidently, punishing the loose balls, as runs started coming in a torrent, with Mortaza conceding 11 in his fifth over, which also saw the 50 of the partnership on the board.

Dravid seemed in complete control as he let loose several classy shots, while Karthick seemed his usual confident self on the flat track which gave virtually no assistance to the bowlers.

Dravid completed his half-century from 59 balls, with a single to long off, while Karthick pulled the next delivery of Enamul Huq to the fence to post the 100 of the innings and the partnership in 107 minutes.

Karthick got to his half-century in the penultimate over before lunch with a single off spinner Mohammad Rafique.

However, the Banlgadesh bowlers got rid of the duo and pegged back the Indian willowers in the post lunch session, which was delayed by 55 minutes due to rains.

Karthick and Dravid got out within a space of 12 balls as India became 132/3.

Mortaza, who proved expensive in his opening spell in the morning, got back his rhythm later on, to trouble Karthick, as the two constantly made eye contact, trying to play the mind game on each other.

Karthick's 143-minute vigil in the middle came to an end in the seventh over after lunch as he tried to pull a Mortaza delivery from outside the offstump and ballooned a catch to Mohammad Ashraful at mid-off.

Karthick's 102-ball innings was studded with nine hits to the fence and he put on 124 for the second wicket along with Dravid.

There was a further setback for India soon after.

Dravid, who managed only one boundary after lunch with a drive past mid-off, made the long walk back to the pavilion in the 34th over of the innings.

Shahadat Hossain, who replaced Mortaza, got immediate success when he bowled one short outside the off-stump and the 34-year-old Indian batsman was beaten by the additional bounce as he went for a cut and wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud made no mistake in accepting the offering.

Tendulkar and Ganguly then quietly went about the task of rebuilding the innings as the scoring rate slowed down and India reached 181/3 at tea.

Tendulkar showed no mercy on the loose deliveries and a cut past point off Enamul Huq and a drive past gully off left arm spinner Saqib-al-Hasan deserve special mention.

Ganguly opened up in the post-tea session after surviving a confident leg before appeal of Mortaza in the second over.

Undaunted, he danced down the track in the next over to loft Mohammad Rafique into the long off stand to bring up the first six of the innings.

With Tendulkar also picking up a boundary with a flick, the over produced 11 runs.

Ganguly proceeded to post the 200 of the innings with a glance into the backward point ropes, the landmark being achieved in 49.3 overs in 238 minutes.

Tendulkar got into action then, disdainfully despatching Enamul Huq for two back-to-back fours, with the first bringing up his 44th Test half century, a little before the 100 of the partnership came of 157 balls.

Ganguly, who reached his 28th Test half-century of 85 balls after a 125-minute stay, stepped out to again send Rafique over long on for the day's second six.

India decided to keep seasoned willower V V S Laxman out of the playing eleven, going in with five bowlers. Zaheer Khan, V R V Singh and R P singh were drafted in to shoulder the pace attack, while veteran Anil Kumble had company in debutant Ramesh Pawar in the spin department.

Scorecard

India 1st innings

Wasim Jaffer b Mortaza                       0
D Kaarthick c Ashraful b Mortaza            56
R Dravid c Mashud b Shahadat                61
S Tendulkar not out                         80
S Ganguly not out                           82

Extras (b1, lb5, w1, nb9)                   16
Total (for 3 wckts, 77 overs)              295
       
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-124, 3-132
       
Bowling: Mortaza 18-5-64-2, Shahadat 9-1-33-1, Rafique 20-2-89-0, Enamul 13-0-57-0, Saqibul 13-2-29-0, Ashraful 1-0-5-0, Saleh 3-1-12-0