By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
IANS
Chittagong : Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly scored fine centuries as India took a firm grip on the first Test against Bangladesh on a rain-affected second day here Saturday.
Tendulkar notched his 36th ton (101, 169 balls, 9x4s) and Ganguly his 13th (100, 165 balls, 13x4s, 2x6s) to take India to 384 for six wickets in the first innings on a day when rains and unplayable ground conditions allowed only 20 overs.
When play was stopped three overs short of the day's quota due to poor visibility at the Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was batting on 36 (35 balls, 6x4s) and Anil Kumble was on one.
After overnight and Saturday morning rains, the umpires inspected the ground thrice before play started at 4.30 p.m. and 23 overs were supposed be bowled. In all, 83 overs have been lost in two days.
With inclement weather forecast for this port city near the Bay of Bengal, the five-day match looks like ending in a tame draw. The second and final Test will be played in Dhaka from May 25.
Earlier, India started the day at 295 for three, with Ganguly on 82 and Tendulkar on 80.
Both batsmen started sedately, and 38 minutes later Ganguly reached his 13th century (163 balls, 221 minutes, 13x4s, 2x6s) and his first against Bangladesh. He reached the milestone with a pull off pacer Shahadat Hossian.
His previous century had come 20 months ago, when he scored a controversial 101 against Zimbabwe in Harare. After that tour he was dropped, and was recalled for the tour of South Africa late last year.
Since his previous century, the elegant left-hander has played 13 innings and scored two half-centuries after being recalled.
Two balls after completing his century, Ganguly was out while trying to play the same pull shot off pacer Mashrafe Mortaza. He failed to connect well and the skied the ball for Mohammad Rafique to take a running catch near the bowler's end.
Ganguly also completed 5,500 runs and took his aggregate to 5,535 in 147 innings of 92 Tests.
After 50 minutes of Ganguly's century, Tendulkar reached his ton – his second against Bangladesh- with a single to mid-wicket off Mortaza.
But like Ganguly, he too was out soon after reaching his ton, playing a similar shot. Tendulkar top edged the ball trying to pull Shahadat Hossian but ended up giving a catch to Mohammad Ashraful at cover.
Earlier, in the same Hossian over, Dhoni received a reprieve when Rajin Saleh dropped him right on mid wicket boundary as possibly sunrays hit his eyes.
It was Tendulkar's first century in 18 innings since December 2005 when he scored 109 against Sri Lanka in Delhi to emerge as the world record holder with the maximum number of Test centuries. Before that knock, he shared the record with former India opener Sunil Gavaskar.
SCOREBOARD
Day 2, First Test, India vs. Bangladesh, Bir Shrestha
Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium, Chittagong
Wasim Jaffer b Mortaza 0
Dinesh Karthik c Ashraful b Mortaza 56
Rahul Dravid c Mashud b Hossain 61
Sachin Tendulkar c Ashraful b Hossian 101
Sourav Ganguly c Rafique b Mortaza 100
Mahendra Singh Dhoni batting 36
Ramesh Powar b Rafique 7
Anil Kumble batting 1
Extras: (bye 2, leg byes 8, wide 2, no balls 10) 22 Total: (for six wickets in 97 overs) 384. Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Jaffer, 0.1 over), 2-124 (Karthik, 31.2), 3-132 (Dravid, 33.1), 4-321 (Ganguly, 84.2), 5-366 (Tendulkar, 91.5), 6-381 (Powar, 94.3)
Bowling:
Mashrafe Mortaza 24 5 95 3 (4nb, 1w)
Shahadat Hossain 17 1 75 2 (2nb, 1w)
Mohammad Rafique 24 3 99 1
Enamul Haque (junior) 15 0 59 0 (4nb)
Saqibul Hasan 13 2 29 0
Mohammad Ashraful 1 0 5 0
Rajin Saleh 3 1 12 0
Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Billy Doctrove
(West Indies)
TV umpire: Enamul Hoque Moni (Bangladesh)
Reserve umpire: Jahangir Alam (Bangladesh)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)