In a dramatic collapse, India lost six wickets as Bangladesh dominated the post-lunch session on the opening day of the first Test that commenced at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here on Sunday. At tea, India wobbled at 160 for six in 45 overs with Sachin Tendulkar (50 n.o.) and Amit Mishra (4 n.o.) at the crease.
After openers – skipper Virender Sehwag (52) and Gautam Gambhir (23) – shared a 79-run partnership that stretched past lunch, India suddenly lost its way with Bangladesh skipper Shakib Hasan causing the first breach with his left-arm spin. Shakib kept pushing Sehwag onto the backfoot and forced a tame punch that found the fielder at short-cover. Two deliveries later, Gambhir flashed hard at seamer Shahadat Hossain and nicked.
The innings continued to stutter as Rahul Dravid (4) played all over Shahadat’s fuller length delivery and was bowled. V.V.S. Laxman (7) too fell as he went walk-about against Shakib and was stumped. Later Yuvraj Singh (12) lobbed a full-toss down mid-on’s throat and Dinesh Karthik (0) found the man at gully as an afternoon of misery was complete for India though Tendulkar reached the 13,000-run milestone to offer some belated cheer.
Earlier after fog and bad light delayed start by 90 minutes, Shakib won the toss and opted to field. Seamer Shafiul Islam made his debut for Bangladesh while Dinesh Karthik and Ishant Sharma replaced the injured duo of regular skipper M.S. Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh in the Indian ranks.
