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.

Australia, who beat England in 1876-77, and Zimbabwe, who drew with India in 1992-93, remained the only countries to avoid defeat on Test debut.

The quiet pessimism of those who felt Bangladesh would struggle to make India bat twice seemed well founded. They had failed to win any of their previous ten first-class matches, and had just completed a chastening tour of South Africa. Furthermore, their selection process was exposed as chaotic when two of the most experienced players, Enamul Haque and Habibul Bashar, were reinstated in the squad at the personal behest of Board president Chowdhury, to the governing body's embarrassment.

It was a reflection of how successfully they began that the expected defeat was eventually greeted with widespread disappointment, and heavy newspaper criticism for their second-innings collapse. If the players learned anything, it was that supporters have short memories.

Expectations were raised largely through the performance of Aminul Islam, a familiar figure on English club grounds. His 145 represented the third century for a country playing their inaugural Test, and the highest since Australian Charles Bannerman retired hurt on 165 in 1876-77. Only Dave Houghton of Zimbabwe had achieved the feat in between.

Aminul demonstrated great patience, underpinning Bangladesh's first innings for 535 minutes of solid graft, hitting 17 fours from his 380 balls innings. He added 66 for the third wicket with Habibul Bashar, who lived up to his reputation with some beefy strikes against an attack badly missing Anil Kumble.

Indian wicket-keeper Saba Karim suffered a torrid induction, and Srinath seemed rusty on his return from injury. Only Joshi, the left-arm spinner, exerted both control and menace, returning figures of five for 142, the best figures of his punctuated Test career.

Almost as important as the 400 runs they scored, Bangladesh occupied the crease for more than ten hours on a pitch showing signs of variable bounce. When Tendulkar fell to a catch at short leg to leave India at 190-5, the possibility grew of a result that could, without exaggeration, have been described as sensational.

However, Ganguly, captaining his country for the first time in Tests, and Joshi added 121 for the seventh wicket late on the third day to bring India closer to parity. A missed opportunity to run out Joshi just after tea proved crucial; only 12 at the time, he scored a Test-best 92 lasting four hours.

Captain Naimur Rahman returned six for 132, bettered only by Bannerman's colleague Tom Kendall (seven for 55) for a side in its first Test. But the fact that India's last three wickets saw them through to lunch on the fourth day clearly had a dispiriting effect on Bangladesh.

Their morale depreciated further when Srinath forced Shahriar Hossain to retire hurt after a short ball struck him on the head. The discipline they had shown first time around deserted them, with Mehrab Hossain, driving loosely, and Habibul, hooking compulsively, particularly at fault led them to be shot out for a paltry 91 off 46.3 overs.

Bangladesh's first-innings 400 had been the second-highest total on Test debut, after Zimbabwe's 456 against India; now 91 was the second-lowest, after South Africa's 84 against England in 1888-89.

Set to get 62 runs for victory, India lost Sadagopan Ramesh early. However, Rahul Dravid and Das saw India home comfortably under floodlights, switched on as the light started to fade.

Sunil Joshi was deservingly adjudged Man of the Match for his all-round performance.

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