Bangladesh's first Test

The first ever cricket Test between India and Bangladesh, played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, from November 10, 2000, produced a few interesting individual performances but the newcomers lost by nine wickets.

It was Bangladesh’s first ever Test but not the first one hosted by them as the Asian Test Championship final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in March 1999 was played on their soil.

Saber Chowdhury, the then president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, described his country's elevation to Test status as the third most historic event for the nation after gaining independence and the adoption of a United Nations mother-tongue day commemorating the suppression of the Bengali language under Pakistani rule.

Certainly, the five days of celebrations leading up to the inaugural Test against India reflected its perceived importance. Among the gestures of goodwill from other Test nations was the donation of ten corneas from the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka to help visually impaired Bangladeshis. Two of them were fitted in time for the beneficiaries to see the game.

A near-capacity crowd watched the first day's play, which began after an opening ceremony in which parachutists carried flags from each of the ten Test-playing countries into the Bangabandhu Stadium. During the tea interval, Naimur Rahman, the Bangladesh captain, and Yuvraj Singh, a member of the Indian squad, injected four children with a polio vaccine to promote a new immunisation programme.

Southpaw Sourav Ganguly started his captaincy stint with this match while opening batsman Shiv Sunder Das, wicket-keeper Saba Karim and left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan made their Test debuts for India.

Saba Karim achieved a peculiar distinction. Having made his first-class cricket debut way back in 1982-83, Karim was making his 118 th first-class match- most by an Indian debutant.

The positive attitude of electing to bat reflected Bangladesh's preparation for the event. And for at least two-thirds of this contest, Bangladesh surpassed all expectations by matching their neighbours, and at times even enjoying the upper hand. But their lack of experience was evident as they threw away the match after starting well.