Ganguly, Joshi steady listing ship

The duo added 121 runs for the seventh wicket before Ganguly became the fifth victim of Bangladesh skipper Naimur Rahman, but India were still precariously placed at 366-7 at close.

After the batsmen accomplished their job with aplomb putting up a huge first innings total, it was now Bangladesh’s bowlers to impress by their performance with the captain himself leading the pack.

Rahman claimed five crucial wickets including that of Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Karthik and Ganguly to wrest the initiative as Indian batsmen struggled against an insipid bowling attack.

India started the day at 81-1 with overnight batsmen Sadgoppan Ramesh and Murali Karthik looking confident though scoring slowly.

Ramesh, resuming at 40, hit Hasibul Hossain and Bikash Ranjan Das for boundaries to bring up his sixth half-century in his 10th Test match.But Bikash Ranjan struck back when his incoming delivery took the edge of Ramesh’s bat and crashed onto the stumps to give Bangladesh their first breakthrough of the day. Ramesh’s 58 came off 92 balls and contained six fours.

Rahul Dravid joined Karthik as Indians looked increasingly subdued. Dravid started hesistantly but found his rhythm later to play some beautiful strokes.

The stylish batsman, returning after a finger injury, was however unlucky to be given out caught at short leg by Al Shahriar off Rafique for 28 though television replays clearly showed the ball had missed his bat. Karthik, meanwhile, was batting with ease though he got a chance at 23 when Aminul Islam dropped a sitter.

The biggest disappointment for India was the failure of Sachin Tendulkar who looked out of sorts in his 41-ball 18-run knock. He was caught at forward short leg by substitute Razin Saleh off Naimur Rahman much to the delight of the home crowd.

When Karthik finally departed to the same combination for a well made 43 off 119 balls that included five fours, India looked in deep trouble at 190-5.Saurav Ganguly added 46 runs with his Bengal teammate Saba Karim (15) to take the score to 236 before the wicket-keeper was stumped by Shariar Hossain off Rahman.

Then came the most fruitful stand of the day between Ganguly and Joshi. Joshi, who was twice lucky escaping a run out chance on 12 and then dropped at 18, made maximum use of his chances and matched his captain stroke for stroke. Ganguly batted in his elegant style and reached his 13th Test fifty off 79 balls just after tea with the help of five fours.

He was playing very confidently and looked set for a hundred when he fell trying to clear the long on boundary. He gave a simple catch to Al Shariar off Rahman. Ganguly’s splendid knock came off 153 balls.

Joshi came into his own after Ganguly’s fall and posted his maiden half-century in Tests off just 59 balls. He continued to play responsibly thereafter and remained unbeaten at 71 that had eight well-timed hits to the fence. Ajit Agarkar was the other batsman not out on five.

Scoreboard
Bangladesh (1st innings) 400
India (1st innings): SS Das b Naimur 29, S Ramesh b Bikash 58, M Karthik c sub (R Saleh) b Naimur 43, R Dravid c Al-Shahriar b Rafiq 28, S Tendulkar c sub (R Saleh) b Naimur 18, S Ganguly c Al Shariar b Naimur 84, S Karim st Shahriar Hossain B Naimur 15, S Joshi (batting) 71, A Agarkar (batting) 5
Extras: (b13, w2) 15 Total: (for seven wickets in 116 overs) 366
Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-104, 3-155, 4-175, 5-190, 6-236, 7-357.
Bowling: Hossain 15-1-56-0, Das 15-3-50-1, Naimur Rahman 40-9-110-5, Rafique 38-9-98-1, Bashar 8-0-39-0.