After brief high Bangla slip again

Mortaza’s form with the ball may have resulted in his promotion as night watchman but the home team finished the day at a sorry 54/3, still 286 runs behind the follow-on mark of 340.

Skipper Saurav Ganguly retrieved the position with his 88 and ensured that the first day advantage was not frittered away as India moved from 334/2 to 412/7. But Ganguly’s partners Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble were the real stars of the show. Both turned in spunky efforts with the bat and ball to put the visitors on top.

Ganguly stood firm and first added 53 for the eighth wicket with Kumble and then shared a 75-run stand with Bhajji. Harbhajan especially had fun as he tried to ‘‘maximise’’ India’s advantage, even though missed out on a fifty as he finished at a useful 47.

Despite the looming death, it was a day when Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore would have been proud of his boys. Leading the way was Mortaza who was playing this Test by default. There were definite plans to rest him considering his and team’s long-term interests. But he was forced in after Tapash Baisya got injured. In the end, Mortaza enacted his role as the lead bowler to perfection, dismissing Sachin Tendulkar with the first ball.

‘‘That was the most memorable wicket of my career. I knew the incoming ball was causing him some discomfort all through the season. So everything worked according to plan,’’ said Mortaza.

The ‘Norail Express,’ as he is called here, then had overnight centurion Rahul Dravid with a ball that moved a shade away and late. India went to lunch suffering a collapse with five wickets falling in the first session after the middle-order crumbled.

Unlike the first day, Mortaza received good support from left-arm spinner Mohammed Rafique, but it was a little too late in the day. India’s innings was getting past the 400-mark and they were into the safe 500-plus zone.

Continuing with their show of spirit in the morning, Bangladesh openers Javed Omar and Nafis Iqbal successfully negotiated India’s new-ball attack, especially the inswing of Irfan Pathan. It was a step in the right direction and towards achieving something which they lacked so far.

Batting out 25 overs without any loss was an achievement considering the way their top-order batted at Dhaka.

But India’s spin twins were just lurking in the background, waiting to make up for the miss in the last Test. And Kumble and Bajji struck in the last 45 minutes to show that India had more tricks in their bag.

As the pitch showed late in the day, there is some turn for the two and India have a definite edge going into Day 3. And Harbhajan knew it when he said with a huge grin: ‘‘There is more to come.’’