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Drama over, it’s showlne

Bangladesh-India first Test starts today

Al Musabbir Sadi
Four years ago, Sourav Ganguly was making his debut as captain when India won what was Bangladesh's inaugural Test at Dhaka's Banga-bandhu National Stadium.
Since then both teams have walked down different paths. While Team India has still got Ganguly at die helm, Bangladesh finds itself with a totally different group of individuals when the two neighbours converge at the same place today.
Bangladesh have a new leader in Habibul Bashar, who struggled to make the final lineup in Naimur Rahman's side in that historic one-ofTTcst in November 2000.
While Ganguly helped India to climb up the ladder, Bangladesh on the other hand hardly emulated a
fantastic 400 in their maiden appearance in the five-day game.
Bashar is one of the three survivors from the class of 2000 and under coach Dav Whatmore the Tigers, as they have come to be known, are searching for their first Test win.
The second meeting after four years has been dogged by security fears after the Indian team received a death threat from an unverified Islamic militant group. However, once Ganguly’s men reached the city on Wednesday smiles returned on the faces of cricketers and fans alike.
And on the eve of the first of two Tests Ganguly said that he was not taking any chances and would be at full strength.
With the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Venkat Laxman, Virender Schwag and the captain himself leading the batting, a balanced attack featuring left-arm pacers Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan and spinners Anil Kumble
and Harbhajan Singh will give India an edge on any type of wicket Lefthanded opener Gautam Gambhir and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik are the only new kids in the side.
Both India and Bangladesh trained Thursday morning despite fog, which forced organisers to switch on the floodlights at the Big Bowl.
Although predictions suggests that the Dhaka wicket will be slow and low Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar thought that the batting-friendly pitch will provide more bounce than usual.
And this is the area where the local boys will have to concentrate more. Anyone winning the toss should opt to bat first but for Bangladesh, the fragile top-order batting remains a great concern. The pace of Zaheer and accuracy from Pathan could pose a great threat to the inconsistent Bangladesh batsmen.
Bashar-hoped that his boys would be able to handle the Indian attack and end their miserable
performance in front of the home crowd.
Bangladesh arc also going to get a pace boost with the return of Mashrafee Bin Mortuza. The fastest bowler in the country will play his first Test in one year and is expected to share the newball wi thTapash Baisya.
FROM PAGE 13
Mushfiqur Rahman will be the third choice seamer as the team's thinktank has decided to rest Talha Jubair. But Mohammad Rafique will have to carry the burden of the attack once the shine the leather Is off. The ace leftarm spinner, who captured four wickets in the inaugural Test, will have Manzarul Islam as his partner
Whatmore admitted that Bangladesh are facing the biggest challenge at home so far in their 33rd Test appearances.
"Probably the series is more important to us than it is to India. Vfe are very pleased to have India come to Bangladesh and bring their full team. It would be a great test for us. Every game is tough, with maybe the exception of Zimbabwe, who will be here next month," the Sri Lankan-bom Australian coach said.
"But we are always looking for-
ward to the challenge and it would be a great experience. There was a definite trend, a positive note coming of the New Zealand series. There was a lot more fight when we bowled and fielded. It’s encouraging and wanning to feel the crowd respond. I think that is a glimpse of what to come in when the team starts to be more co ns is tent"
Not worried about the pitch of the Bangabandhu Stadium, Whatmore termed it as any other good wicket in the world.
"It's a very good pitch for batting. Even though it spins, it doesn't spin that quickly. If you get set you get good value for shots as a batsman. But as a bowler, if you put the shoulder in, it spins," he added
"Wfe are, expecting ourselves to perform to our full potential. We respect the opposition, but at the same time we have our own little goals to achieve. Losing is disappointing
and frustrating. But we have slightly different goals to most other teams and if we achieve those goals we're going to do better and better. One win will always help.
"Good performances against teams like India will go a long way in showing us that we are on the right track."