On a day of runs and bouncers, Sachin Tendulkar said that the Indian batsmen had the last word. “The Bangladesh bowlers bowled well in phases. Yes they did use the short-ball but in the end, we have scored 459 for four and that tells a story, isn’t it?,” Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar said that he and Rahul Dravid remained alert and bided their time. “Restrictive fields were set, the bowlers did well in phases and during that time Dravid and I remained patient and after that we also played our shots. The pitch was also two-paced. We have not decided yet about how many runs we want on the third day,” Tendulkar said.
Asked about his 90th hundred in international cricket (45 in Tests and 45 in ODIs), Tendulkar quipped: “Ah, I don’t count!” The maestro also expressed joy over Virender Sehwag being named among the list of Padma Shri awardees. “He truly deserves it,” Sachin said.
Tendulkar believed that India is poised to move ahead in this match while speedster Shahadat Hossain said that Bangladesh can stay afloat if its batsmen do well in the second innings. “If we apply ourselves in the second innings, we can save this match,” Shahadat said.
Shahadat admitted that bowling bouncers at the Indian batsmen was part of the team’s strategy. “Yes, it was pre-planned. In the team meetings, we discussed the fact that Virender Sehwag and Dravid tend to leave the bouncers as they are not comfortable playing them hence we wanted to test them in this match. When the bouncer struck Dravid and when I saw such a great batsman collapse and fall, it did help my confidence as a fast bowler,” Shahadat said.
Shahadat also refused to blame his fielders while Tendulkar thrived on two dropped catches. “This is part of the game and we have to accept it,” the speedster said.
