At best, the cynics said, Bangladesh can only bat
Partab Ramchand12-Nov-2000At best, the cynics said, Bangladesh can only bat. They don’t have thebowling and fielding to do well in a Test match. Well, over the firsttwo days of the inaugural Test against India at the Bangabandhustadium in Dhaka, the batsmen proved the critics wrong, those who saidthat Bangladesh players could bat only for 30 overs and not for sixand seven hours. And on Sunday, the bowlers and fielders made thecynics eat their words. In fact for long periods, Bangladesh seemed tohave mighty India in a spot of bother and it was only a seventh wicketpartnership of 121 runs between Sourav Ganguly and Sunil Joshi whichsaved the visitors the blushes.The Ganguly-Joshi stand helped India recover a lot of ground and endthe third day of the Test at 366 for seven off 116 overs. With Indiaonly 34 runs behind, an interesting two days lie ahead. There is theprospect of a keen fight for the first innings lead. And whatever thelead and whichever team gets it, there is still plenty left to playfor both teams in the match. And whoever thought such a scenario wouldbe possible midway through this Test match? The pitch is still playingwell except for the inevitable wear and tear and almost any resultlooks possible.And for the match to have reached this stage, all credit must go toBangladesh. This was to be the day when Indian batsmanship would breaknew records and reach new heights, or so was commonly believed. Ascore of something in the region of 400 for four wickets was widelypredicted. But by their resilient qualities, Bangladesh not only keptthe famed Indian batting line up in check but they also took wicketsat regular intervals. And symbolising this fighting spirit was NaimurRahman. The 26-year-old captain led from the front in taking fivewickets for 110 off 40 overs with his off spinners. His scalpsincluded Tendulkar and Ganguly.And yet when Sadagopan Ramesh and Murali Kartik started theproceedings confidently enough, the stage did seem set for a massiveIndian reply. The first inclination that all would not go India’s waycame when Ramesh was bowled by Ranjan Das. The 18-year-old left armmedium pacer, yet to play a ODI, was pushed into the Test team and thegamble paid off when the left handed Ramesh, playing forward, wasbeaten by the pace and bounce and the ball brushed his bat on the wayto hitting the off and middle stumps. Ramesh’s 58 was compiled off 92balls and he hit six fours.Nightwatchman Murali Kartik doggedly held on and Rahul Dravid startedin fluent fashion. However on 28, Dravid was caught at short leg by AlShahriar off Naimur Rahman. But even though India were now 155 forthree, with Tendulkar and Ganguly to come, there was no need forpanic.The small crowd gave Tendulkar a big cheer but he did not last long.He was declared out by umpire Steve Bucknor, caught at short leg bysubstitute fielder Rajin Saleh off Naimur. The substitute wasnecessitated following an injury to wicketkeeper Khaled Masud who washit on the knee as a ball from Hasibul Hussein beat Ramesh. ShahriarHoosein took over the duty behind the wickets. With Murali Karthikhaving gone just before this, also dismissed by the same combination,India were now 190 for five and suddenly in a spot of bother.The rescue act was initiated by Ganguly and Saba Karim. The two added46 runs for the sixth wicket off 15.3 overs and looked good for manymore when the wicketkeeper was out in strange circumstances. He wentforward to Naimur Rahman and the next thing everyone saw were thestumps being disturbed. Even as excited shouts of ‘bowled’ echoed allover the ground, it was quickly apparent that the ball had come offShahriar Hoosain’s pads and then hit the stumps. Unsure of whatexactly had happened, umpires Shepherd and Bucknor referred the matterto the third umpire. TV replays confirmed that the ball had indeedricocheted off Hoosain’s pads but more importantly, at the moment theball had hit the stumps, Karim’s foot was just outside the crease.After an agonizingly long wait when match referee Raman Subba Row wasseen talking on the walkie talkie to the umpires, the red light cameon signalling Karim’s exit. A bit unfortunate to be stumped this way,Karim was out under law 39-2 (a) which states ”the batsman is outstumped if the ball rebounds on to the stumps from any part of thewicketkeeper’s person or equipment other than a protective helmet.”With six down for 236, the repair work had to start all over again.Ganguly’s graceful batting continued to provide a ray of sunshine andnow he found an able partner in Sunil Joshi. Coming together justbefore tea, the two proceeded to wrest the initiative. Despite thegrim situation, both went for their strokes. Joshi matched his moreillustrious partner with some bold lofted shots, while Gangulyremained elegance personified. They even caused the removal of NaimurRahman from the attack. He had an unchanged spell of 27-3-89-3 todayand he was easily the best bowler on view. Joshi now pressed on theaccelerator and took ten runs off three deliveries from HabibulBashar. In the first hour after the break, India scored 59 runs from14 overs, the brightest phase of the innings.Joshi pulled left arm spinner Rafique to the mid wicket fence to reachhis maiden half century in Tests. By now the 31-year-old all rounderfrom Karnataka was outscoring Ganguly as the partnership became thehighest of the innings and proceeded merrily towards the three figuremark which was duly reached off 138 balls. Runs came freely now as ifto mock at the earlier batsmen. The siege had been lifted and thecounter attack had commenced. Under its influence, the bowling becamewayward and the fielding wilted.The 350 came up and suddenly the Bangladesh total of 400 had comewithin sight. Interest now shifted on whether the Indian captain wouldreach his hundred before stumps and whether the two batsmen would comein unbeaten. But in the last half hour, Ganguly and Joshi put up theshutters, hoping to carry on their good work tomorrow. That was not tobe for Ganguly suddenly got a rush of blood, jumped out to NaimurRahman, who had returned to the attack, and holed out to Al Shahriarat long on. Ganguly’s 84 was compiled off 153 balls and he hit fiveboundaries. Like the seventh wicket partnership which realised 121runs off 32.3 overs, Ganguly’s was an invaluable knock.The light by now was murky but Ajit Agarkar and Joshi played out thelast few overs. No praise can be too high for Joshi who by stumps hadhit eight fours in his 71 for which he faced 112 balls. One must notforget he already has a five wicket haul in this match.