Bangladesh surprise India

Then,the famed Indian batting line-up collapsed against an ordinary Bangladesh bowling,with the most innocuous bowler of the day ending up with a four-wicket tally. In the end,after a disappointing batting display,the visitors finished with 213 for eight at stumps on the first day of the opening Test. And it was only Sachin Tendulkars unbeaten 76 an uncharacteristically scratchy knock that saved India the blushes.

The beginning of the Indian innings though,after a 90-minute delay,seemed customary as stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir got off to a flier. By lunch,the two looked in complete command,having taken the score to 63 without loss in just 13 overs. The lunch break was the turning point,with the two sides appearing to be interchanged when they walked out for the second session.

Beginning the slide

After having bowled one over in the morning session,Shahadat Hossain was smashed for 15 runs three fours by Sehwag and one wide after lunch. The next over,Sehwag hit his opposite number Shakib Al Hasan straight to Tamim Iqbal at short-cover,having scored a 51-ball 52.

Gambhir then edged a rising Shahadat delivery to the wicket-keeper two balls later,before the tall speedster sent Rahul Dravids middle-stump packing with a full delivery. Yuvraj Singh chipped a harmless full-toss from Shakib to Rubel Hossain standing at deep mid-on and Dinesh Karthik edged a wide delivery to reduce India to 150 for 6. India lost six wickets for 97 runs in the second session.

Tendulkar after surviving a dropped chance at slip on 16 though continued to wage a lone battle at the other end,going past the 13,000-run mark in the process. Amit Mishra and Zaheer Khan provided some company,before falling to Shahadat (4/51) and Shakib (4/52) who bowled 26 overs on the trot respectively.

No 1 jinx?

Interestingly,the last time a No 1 ranked Test team paraded into Bangladesh Australia in 2006 they,too,had experienced an uneasy start to the series,with the home side piling on over 400 runs in their first innings and even managing to gain a huge lead at Fatullah. South Africa,too,made an uncomfortable start to their tour in 2008,getting bowled out for 170 in the first innings. Both teams,though,eventually escaped any serious embarrassment.

And after his much-publicised haughty comments,Sehwag will be hoping that India,too,manage to overcome the early obstacles. The first day,though,would not have been encouraging for the skipper.

Test debut for Erasmus

The sun must have hardly risen over Cape Province in South Africa around the time the two captains walked out for the toss on Sunday in Chittagong. For one household on the outskirts of Cape Town,however,it was to be an early start. Marais Erasmus,officiating in his first Test,insists his family loves to watch him on TV.

During the India-Sri Lanka ODI in Rajkot,my twin boys sat up at 5.30 in the morning,saw me walk out and then went to sleep, says the 45-year-old all-rounder,who played 53 first-class games for Boland.

Admitting he was nervous in the build-up to the Test,Erasmus said: My father is a keen cricket follower. And though he believes his son can do no wrong,he can be very critical if I get a decision wrong, he says. Bharat Sundaresan