India on top after first day

After being given a fright early in the day by the home side, India have taken control of the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong thanks to a large unbeaten stand between Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. At Stumps on the first day India are beautifully placed at 295-3, with Ganguly on 82 and Tendulkar 80.

But after Rahul Dravid won the toss and decided to bat the match got off to the worst possible start for India, with Mashrafe Mortaza bringing the crowd to their feet in clean bowling Wasim Jaffer with the first ball of the Test series.

Dinesh Karthik and Dravid batted out the remainder of the first session and looked to be getting things back on track for India in taking the score through to 124-1, but then both fell within the space of two overs and the score was looking a bit shaky at 132-3.

But then Ganguly and Tendulkar took control, with probably the highlight of the day for Indian supporters being the latter’s return to form. Tendulkar will be hoping to please them even more by pushing on to triple figures tomorrow. Ganguly too has a point to prove and if he can also bat on for a considerable length of time tomorrow he can secure his place in the Test lineup once again.

After such a dream start it’s looking a bit bleak for Bangladesh, but if they can just remove these two batsmen early in day two the next batsman is wicket-keeper MS Dhoni, and he will be followed by all-rounder Ramesh Powar and then the bowlers. So there is hope yet for the home side – just not while this 163-run partnership is unbroken.

India 295-3
Saurav Ganguly 82 no, Sachin Tendulkar 80 no
Mashrafe Mortaza 2-64, Shahadat Hossain 1-33