India start off New Year with a Win

Yes, they have done it. India beat Bangladesh in the 1st Test in Chittagong by 113 runs, despite fog and bad light affecting play on all days and hence shortening the duration of the match. India virtually won the game in 3 1/2 days, which is really good, despite the opposition being minnows, because it came on a pitch that did not offer any help by the time the Indians came in to bowl. The ICC World No. 1 Test Team hence got off to good start to the new year, without their influential captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and highest wicket taker Harbhajan Singh. Credit must go to the bowlers who chipped in quite well and also to the stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag who marshaled his resources quite well. Also to Man-of-the-Match Sachin Tendulkar, whose vital unbeaten century in the 1st innings gave India a fighting total, after they were in deep trouble.

The day started off with Bangladesh with too big job in their hands, having to save the Test with just 8 wickets in hand. Ishant Sharma, who seems to be getting back to his best after a long period of poor form, got the breakthrough early getting Mohammad Ashraful caught at slips. The World Record holder for most number of catches in Test Cricket, Rahul Dravid, didn't make any mistake there. Ishant continued to trouble the batsmen with his impressive line and length and control. He got the ball to move both ways and also to lift off the pitch, hitting Raqibul Hasan on the elbow. He soon got the batsman out plumb in front with an incoming delivery. On the other hand, comeback man Sreesanth rounded of his horrible match with another disappointing day. Despite Ishant troubling the batsmen at the other end, Sreesanth hardly provided the batsmen any challenge, let alone taking wickets. He bowled too short throughout the day and paid for it by getting a spanking from just about all the batsmen. Finally he left off limping after pulling a muscle. He might as well be dropped for the next game.

Meanwhile, Amit Mishra too didn't look too threatening, not helped by a pitch that only provided slow turn. The batsmen seemed to have all the time in the world to pick his deliveries. It was the skipper Sehwag himself who provided the breakthrough by getting Tamim Iqbal to slash hard at a wide delivery that turned away. Tamim, known for his hard hitting, controlled his aggression for a long period, but finally ran out of patience. Bangladesh Skipper Shakib-Al-Hasan once again let his team down by getting out cheaply. He didn't back up his words with his action. He had announced after day 4 that his team would look to bat out the day and go for win. Certainly the Indians had other ideas. Shakib was caught at silly point, once again by his counterpart, off a rising googly. Then, 1st innings top-scorer, Mahmudullah got carried away after having a row with Zaheer Khan. He fell for the trap laid by the experienced Zaheer, who got under the skin of the batsman. Mahmuduallah was in no mood of looking to save his team as he slashed at everything. Zaheer worked him up with lots of short stuff, with some going for streaky boundaries, but finally got his man caught behind of a full delivery. He enjoyed it and lent out a war cry.

With defeat in sight, Bangladesh lower order started swinging at everything. With India setting up attacking fields in search of wickets, runs flowed with plenty of boundaries. Indians waited for their chance patiently as Amit Mishra finally wrapped up the final three wickets, but not before Bangladesh Wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim getting a fine century. He batted much better than others, but the century certainly didn't have the value of one as it came under zero pressure with Bangladesh on the verge of defeat. There was bad news for India after the win as VVS Laxman will miss the next Test due to finger injury. But with Dhoni and Harbhajan, who were already practising after getting over their niggles, set to come back, India should have no problems. The 2nd and final Test starts off on Sunday, the 24th after just two days of gap. Virender Sehwag though had the last laugh with not only the side posting an easy win, but also he got his words right, as Bangladesh's "ordinary" bowling unit failed to get 20 Indian wickets, just as he had predicted. Thanks to him, the otherwise dull series got something going.