The chef grilling the chicken kebabs outside the Indian dressing room worked with an urgency not usual to these parts, but there was a good reason: it was a special request from Sourav Ganguly.When, at stumps, the Indian captain sat down to enjoy his kebabs, he could wash it down with the satisfaction of a good day in the field, which all began with the rare win of the toss. If there was one reason for India’s domination today, it was Irfan Pathan. The swing bowler — improbably, just turned 20 — gave a gem of a performance against Bangladesh, claimed his first five-wicket haul and helped bowl out the hosts for just 184. Irfan’s career has been a fairy tale since he first hit headlines late last year with that 9-17 haul at the under-19 level against Bangladesh in Lahore. Given all he’s achieved since, he might have been expected to approach today’s bowling with a touch of arrogance but that’s not his style. ‘‘It is international cricket after all, and it’s tough. I had to bowl in the right areas,’’ Pathan said later. His bowling today impressed not because it was brilliant — he’s bowled far more fiery, devastating spells — but because he tailored it to suit the needs of the team. The wet pitch meant he didn’t really have to do much but maintain a steady stump-to-stump line; he could have messed it up by getting overexcited (and who, at 20, is immune to that?), by trying to do too much. Instead, he stuck to the basics and the Bangladesh batsmen fell prey to his line. He kept bringing the ball in to the batsmen, forcing them to play. The fact that four of his five victims were out leg-before showed the consistency in his line and length. In fact, all the four leg-before dismissals looked action replays as the ball swung in sharply, catching the batsman plumb in front. When the first three fell easily, it seemed Pathan’s dream of a five-for would finally be realised but the Bangladesh batsmen weren’t that obliging. So for the fourth one Pathan moved it a bit away, leaving Manjurul Islam Rana to edge it behind. Indeed, there was just one ball that could have been termed unplayable, and that yielded no result. The ball just took off from a length and went past Bangladesh mainstay Mohammed Ashraful’s gloves. Twice, though, Pathan came close to getting a hat-trick, something his idol Wasim Akram — watching from the commentary box — had achieved at the same ground. Both times Pathan was unlucky that Ashraful, technically Bangladesh’s best batsman, was facing him. The pitch eased up considerably late in the day, resulting in some agricultural shots from tail-ender Mohammed Rafique, but Pathan was very much to come back and wrap up the tail. Given that just a month ago he was bowling to the world’s best batting line-up, was there ever a problem of motivation? ‘‘Not at all’’, he replied. ‘‘The biggest motivation for me is to play for India at all times.’’ SCOREBOARD
