Gritty Bangladesh go down fighting
The lowly ranked Bangladeshis may have lost the first Test but Mushfiqur Rahim who made his debut ton (101) showed enought guts and spirit to post a fantastic innings even as his teammates departed without much success against a probing attack of India. Mushfiqur essayed a knock that bordered on dynamism and dare. He was never overawed by this Indian team and for once India’s stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag who had termed Bangladesh ‘ordinary’ was left gasping as Mushfiqur took the attack to the visitors. The first Test had shown that the hosts had their moments but their inexperience of having won too many Tests proved to be their undoing. It is for certain that the one team that will walk away with maximum learnings are the Bangladeshis.
On Day Four, Gautam Gambhir’s ninth Test century and a late cameo from star player V.V.S. Laxman helped India sniff victory in the first Test against Bangladesh on Day Four of the Chittagong. Grabbing two quick wickets further reduced them 67/2 in the 18 overs possible before stumps. The fourth day belonged to one man —Gautam Gambhir as the left-hander amassed his fifth Test ton in as many game and joined a very select list with his fifth Test hundred in as many games. He stroked his way to a brilliant 116 and etched his name alongside Sir Donald Bradman, South African Jacques Kallis and Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan among those who have achieved the rare feat.
The visiting Indians did come up with a credible show and by the end of Day Three, India were 123 runs ahead with nine wickets in hand, opening the game up quite nicely.
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir put on a quickfire 90 in just 17 overs to take the game away from the Bangladeshis after having sneaked in a single run lead in the first innings. Amit Mishra swung the bat around everything to help India end the day on a good note.
Earlier, Mahmadullah Riad and Mushfiqur Rahim helped Bangladesh overcome a mid-innings slump and close to within a single run of India’s 243 with some aggressive resistance.
Weather continued to play hide and seek in the first Test in Chittagong but the day certainly belonged to Sachin Tendulkar who scored his 44th Test century in India’s sub-par total of 243 but the visitors fought back valiantly to reduce Bangladesh to to 59/3.
Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma made good use of the superb overcast conditions to dent the opposition before umpires Billy Bowden and Marais Erasmus offered light to the Bangla boys who were more than happy to accept it.
Play was finally called off at 4.40 pm.
In between the no show on the ground, the Little Master stroked his way from his overnight score of 76 and took just 20 balls to reach the three-figure mark for the 44th time in Tests.
How often have the legends of the game termed the statement–’Cricket is a funny game.’ It was this very statement that held forte on the first day of the first Test between India and Bangladesjh at Chittagong as the visitors ate crow on a pitch that appeared juicy and with overcast conditions to boot, skipper Shakib Al Hasan chose to take field.
One poor session post-lunch left stand-in captain Virender Sehwag team appearing to be on the backfoot and if not for Sachin Tendulkar’s unbeaten 76, the scoreboard would have appeared more dismal at close than the 213/8 in 63 overs. On eve of the game, Sehwag had boldly suggested Bangladesh lacked the wherewithal to take 20 wickets.
Just over 24 hours later, the hosts needed another 12 Indian scalps to prove him wrong, clearly indicating to the Indians that a touch of humility from No.1 Test side will not do them any harm. Barring Sachin and Viru who made a typical blistering 52 , none of the Indian batters even touched the score of 30.
The all-important wickets —that of ‘The Wall’ Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman turned the tide and the game in the hosts favour.  In the spell between lunch and tea thereafter, India lost six wickets and added just 97 runs.
Earlier in the day, Ishant Sharma made it to the Indian teams when Harbhajan Singh pulled out with a stiff neck and the lanky lad from Delhi will be hoping to partner Zaheer Khan and S. Sreesanth to return the favour showered upon them by the Bangla boys.
