Shakib Al Hasan and Shahadat Hossain shared eight wickets to spark India's collapse in the first Test against Bangladesh today. The left-arm spinner Shakib took four for 52 and paceman Shahadat 4 for 51 as India, ranked No 1 in the world, struggled to reach 213 for eight when the opening day's play was called off nearly 30 minutes before scheduled close due to bad light. Sachin Tendulkar (76 not out) and stand-in captain Virender Sehwag (52) were the only batsmen to give a good account of themselves in a dismal batting performance. The others failed to cope with a disciplined pace-spin combination, just a day after Sehwag had described Bangladesh as an "ordinary side". "I don't think at any point anyone discussed about this," said captain Shakib, referring to Sehwag's comments. "Our main target was to bowl a correct line and length. Although we missed a couple of catches, we bowled really well against a very good batting line-up. As I said they can always make mistakes if we bowl in the right areas."
Bangladesh had a chance to dismiss Tendulkar on 16, but Imrul Kayes dropped a catch at first slip off debutant paceman Shaiful Islam. Tendulkar, 36, also became the first batsman to complete 13,000 Test runs during his 140-ball knock, achieving the feat when he pulled off-spinner Mohammad Mahmudullah for a four in the second session. He has so far made 13,046 runs in 163 Tests. He is also the world's leading scorer in one-day internationals (17,394) and holds the records for maximum number of centuries in both Tests (43) and one-dayers (45). In the current Test Tendulkar has so far hit one six and six fours. "The wicket had a lot of moisture and Bangladesh exploited the conditions quite well," said Tendulkar. "We just needed to hang around and get partnerships which did not happen. But the game is not over yet. There is still a long way to go."
India were comfortably placed at 79 for no loss before losing their way in the second session, which saw the visitors lose six wickets for 97 runs. India's batting woes began with the dismissal of Sehwag, who uppishly drove Shakib to Tamim Iqbal at short cover after hitting nine fours in a brisk 51-ball knock for his 20th Test half-century. The left-handed Gautam Gambhir (23) fell to a loose shot at the same total of 79, chasing an away-going delivery from Shahadat to be caught behind. The Bangladeshi paceman struck again when he removed Rahul Dravid (four), who was bowled while attempting to work the ball on the on-side. Shakib got his second wicket when he had Venkatsai Laxman (seven) stumped by Mushfiqur Rahim, who broke the stumps when the batsman lost balance after inside-edging a delivery on to his pads. Yuvraj Singh also didn't last long, hitting a Shakib full-toss straight to Rubel Hossain at mid-on after contributing just 12. Dinesh Karthik fell for a duck, caught by a diving Raqibul Hasan at gully off Shahadat. India lost two more wickets in the last session, with Shahadat removing Amit Mishra (14) and Shakib accounting for Zaheer Khan (11).
India: Gautam Gambhir c M Rahim b S Hossain 23 Virender Sehwag c T Iqbal b S Al Hasan 52 Rahul Dravid b S Hossain 4 Sachin Tendulkar batting 76 VVS Laxman st M Rahim b S Al Hasan 7 Yuvraj Singh c R Hossain b S Al Hasan 12 Dinesh Karthik c R Hasan b S Hossain 0 Amit Mishra lbw b S Hossain 14 Zaheer Khan c R Hasan b S Al Hasan 11 Ishant Sharma batting 1 Extras (1b, 6lb, 1w, 5nb) 13 Total (for 8 wickets, 63 overs) 213 Fall of wickets: 1-79, 2-79, 3-85, 4-107, 5-149, 6-150, 7-182, 8-209 Bowling: Shafiul Islam 9-1-41-0 Shahadat Hossain 14-1-51-4 Rubel Hossain 10-0-40-0 Shakib Al Hasan 26-9-52-4 Mahmudullah 3-0-17-0 Mohammad Ashraful 1-0-5-0
