Spilling over with fans dressed in bright red and pink, one waving a bright green umbrella, the tree quivered in the first minute of the first Test between India and Bangladesh, shook harder about 90 minutes after lunch, and then stood still like a rock for the rest of the day. And that was how today’s cricket went, too.

Barely had the Indians settled down this morning, when Bangladesh pace ace Mashrafe Mortaza sent back specialist opener Wasim Jaffer with a sensational first ball. Then, after a pulsating 124-run partnership, Rahul Dravid and Dinesh Kaarthick stumbled and fell within 11 balls of each other. And that left Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly with enough space and time to settle down, stretch their legs, share 163 precious runs, and shut out Bangladesh.

At 295 for three, an hour’s play lost, thanks to a passing shower, four days to go, India have nearly batted Bangladesh out of this game — nearly, because there’s just Mahendra Singh Dhoni to follow before the bowlers walk out. But then, Tendulkar is looming large at 80, looking better by the ball, and Ganguly is busy at 82, closing in, run by run, on that elusive, promised comeback 100.

In the end, the sight of VVS Laxman having another go at the nets during lunch, counting the days till the second Test starts next week, was probably the only dark spot under the bright sun — five bowlers, there just wasn’t enough room for him.

Four half-centuries then, and where do you begin? Looking back, it has to be that bright, lively 102-ball, 56 by Kaarthick. Not just because of the way he went about it, but because of that increasingly obvious ability to soak in the pressure, and then shrug it off.

After watching his specialist opening partner Jaffer shoulder arms to a ball that sneaked in to pop out the off stump, you would have expected the 11-Test-old Karthik to start tottering, his nerves in a shambles. But what he came up with out there was a brilliant exhibition of aggressive, hungry batting that blew away Bangladesh.

Indeed, with Dravid shifting gears quite early at the other end, India’s journey from that early blow to 124 for two in 187 balls was the day’s showpiece session. Zoom in further, and you might pause to admire those two sensational cover drives by Dravid off Mortaza, and one Kapil Dev-style Nataraja pull by Kaarthick, followed by a slapped four past the other pacer Shahadat Hossain.

In fact, Dravid’s 61 came in just 99 balls, as he later took the three left-arm spinners apart, rocking back to cut hard, or plonking that front foot down to drill through the heavy armour at cover. Kaarthick, at the other end, kept pace with the skipper, pushing him hard for the singles, fighting inch for inch with a far superior fielding force.

Surely, 12th man Yuvraj Singh would have noticed the intense desire to hang on to that India cap—this is Kaarthick’s third chance after an eight-Test spell two years ago, and two Tests in Zimbabwe—and make every minute in the middle count.

Not surprisingly, Mortaza fell away after that early wicket, losing his line and length and giving away 32 runs in the final three overs of his first spell. And while his partner Hossain stuck on gamely, even rattling Dravid and Kaarthick with two ferocious bouncers, Bangladesh’s three-spin attack let it go by taking its time to shake off the one-day hangover, before waking up to flight the ball and hit the right length, a bit too late.

Not that Dravid and Kaarthick were complaining, though — speeding along at five runs per over, they really weren’t.

Soon enough, Dravid zipped past his 47th Test fifty, 11 boundaries behind him, the hundred just one turn away, and Kaarthick pulled out every stroke that he would have dreamt of playing at this level — cover drives, flicks, pulls, on-the-up, through the ground, the works. In the end, it took an over-ambitious shot—a pull from outside off for Kaarthick—and an extremely good ball from Hossain, which bounced sharply to beat the skipper’s cut, for Bangladesh to squirm back into the match.

Well, not squirm back, really. Because, Tendulkar and Ganguly simply wouldn’t let them. Both past masters in such situations — 132 for three, in this case — the two veterans first let Mortaza and Hossain run in hard only to dash in vain against their wall-like defence. Then, they watched Mohamad Rafique, Enamul Haq (Jr) and their left-arm spin colleague Saqibul Hassan, twirl out every trick in their book, even the odd arm ball, only to wave away any hint of danger with a gentle swish of the bat.

In between, Ganguly even came up with two sixes, both from trademark lofts over long-off, and Tendulkar served up the by-now-familiar fare, no frills, no risks, percentage power play, obviously eager to pile on the runs against a dispirited attack, get to that long-awaited 100 No 36, 14 months after the last one.

Finally, Bangladesh. They bowled like they always do, with a lot of heart; they fielded like they always do, fighting for every run; they set fields like they always do, aggressive, a short extra cover in place throughout, even a silly point late into the day. But then, as always, they ended up just those few yards short.

Sachin named vice-captain

Chittagong: Sachin Tendulkar was named vice-captain of the Indian team in Bangladesh for the two Tests. The national selectors had not named anybody as Rahul Dravid’s deputy for the ODI series. That squad, however, did not include Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings): W Jaffer b Mortaza 0, D Kaarthick c Ashraful b Mortaza 56, R Dravid c Mashud b Hossain 61, S Tendulkar batting 80,

S Ganguly batting 82

Extras (b1, lb5, w1, nb9): 16; Total (for 3 wkts, in 77 overs): 295

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-124, 3-132.

Bowling: Mortaza 18-5-64-2, Hossain 9-1-33-1, Rafique 20-2-89-0, Haque 13-0-57-0, Hasan 13-2-29-0, Ashraful 1-0-5-0, Saleh 3-1-12-0.

Bangla Bytes

• Wasim Jaffer became the fifth Indian batsman to be dismissed on the first ball in a Test match.

• By bowling Jaffer, Mashrafe Mortaza became the first Bangladeshi bowler to take a wicket on the first ball in a Test match.

• The first batsman to be dismissed on the first ball in a Test match was England’s Archibald Campbell MacLaren against Australia at Melbourne in 1894-95 while Sunil Gavaskar was the first Indian to achieve this unwanted feat. England’s Geoff Arnold dismissed Gavaskar on the first ball at Birmingham in 1974.

• Sunil Gavaksar is the only bastsman who was out on first ball in a Test match thrice.

—Syed Pervez Qaiser