India vs Bangladesh: Rain washes out play on Day 2

Apocalyptic it may feel but it’s not the end of the world. But with three hours of such intense rain, and you know for sure it’s the end of the day’s play. And with more rain forecast over the next three days, the Test match’s end could also be nigh.

If it comes to such pass, few would be more disappointed in India’s playing XI that the veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

You remember reading an interview he gave during the Indian Premier League this year. “There is this burning desire inside me to make it back to the Indian team. That is the reason I am playing cricket. Playing for India is the most satisfying thing and the biggest motivation for me. Every day I wake up with a dream and that is to get back into that Indian side. I am making sure that I tick all the boxes,” he had told http://www.iplt20.com.

Rain has been forecast for all five days of the Test match. (Source: AP)

And sure enough, he was doing that. After a strong performance in the IPL saw him included in the Test squad, he looked all set to make a comeback in the long format after two and a half years. A day before the match, he was training hard right next to the centre square, bowling from around the wicket. He was practicing for a line-up packed with left-handers – five out of their top-six batsmen are lefties.

Between the bowling sessions he was seen chatting up with the young leg-spinner Karn Sharma. Often he would draw semi-circles in the air with his index finger, which would tell you he was talking about giving the ball that extra bit of loop. It reminded you that, in a soothingly old-fashioned way, Harbhajan has been flighting the ball more these days, getting it to dip and turn. His long chat with Karn also seemed to show that he has been sharing his wealth of experience with young players. “My role would be… to win games for India and help other bowlers who are playing. We need to work as a unit and it is not about me there are other bowlers and we all would look to back each other,” Harbhajan had, after all, said.

Deservedly, his dream came half-true on Wednesday when he found his name in the team sheet. Half-true, because India won the toss and chose to bat. Harbhajan had made a comeback, but he wasn’t playing yet. India were looking to post a big total and give him and his bowling colleagues enough time bowl Bangladesh out twice.

The 34-year-old must have felt a thrill when Taijul Islam started getting the ball to turn a fair bit. It must have been difficult not to jump ahead and think about Day Three, when he and Ashwin would be on top of the Bangladeshis on this pitch.

Day Three is tomorrow, and not one innings is complete so far. It rained on Thursday night, thereby making the wet outfield soggier still. The sun is unlikely to come out on Friday – in fact there is more rain in the offing. And even more on Saturday. It’s monsoon in Bangladesh, after all. What else did the organizers expect?

Harbhajan, then, may not get to bowl. At least, surely, not as much as he would have liked to. That would mean more wait. Till the proposed Sri Lanka series in August-September if gets another chance, or South Africa’s tour of India for four Tests. But, in his time out of the Indian team, he has learned to wait. And keep faith. As he told The Indian Express in a frank chat last year (Faith in Ink and Blood, February 2014): “Yes, Bhajji will play again. This story is not yet complete.”

If you hadn’t believed him then, you better believe now.

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