India take no chances

A haze hung low over the Bangabandhu Stadium, but the dark clouds of security threats had lifted enough for India's first full tour of Bangladesh to get underway. The stadium was abuzz with activity, and both teams had an extended practice session even as the floodlights were pressed into service halfway into the morning. While the punters reckon that this series is unattractive, both teams have enough to play for.

"It's probably more important to us than it is to India, I would think," said Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh's coach. "We are very pleased that India have come to Bangladesh and brought their full team. Every game is tough, maybe with the exception of Zimbabwe, which we're looking forward to." But, for India, who lost at home to Australia, and did not quite thump a weakened South African team, this series is a great chance to get their act together. Barring Virender Sehwag, the batting line-up - the backbone of this team - has failed to put up big scores.

Sourav Ganguly will be taking no chances. He made it clear that the newcomers - Gagandeep Singh and Shib Sankar Paul - would have to wait a while before they have a crack at the highest level, because India were likely to field the same team that played the second Test against South Africa at Kolkata. An attack with Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan sharing the new ball, and Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh taking up spinning duties is the combination that will best suit this pitch.

"It's a typical Dhaka wicket," said Ganguly. "A bit damp, but otherwise a typical Dhaka wicket." A typical Dhaka wicket offers opportunity for tall scores and liberal turn. "The pitches here are pretty good. There are lots of pitches around the world that you might worry about, but you wouldn't worry about the pitch at the Bangabandhu Stadium," said Whatmore. "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."

But the return of Mashrafe Mortaza, the tall strapping fast bowler who has been out of the Bangladesh team since he suffered a knee injury a year ago, has done wonders to bolster the morale of the Bangladesh team. Recently, on pitches with a tinge of green, he had batsmen ducking and weaving in domestic cricket with his awkward rising deliveries. Habibul Bashar believed his team had no problems with steep bounce. "It might not seam, but it will have some bounce. We're happier [batting] on bouncy pitches. We are more troubled by low bounce," said Bashar. But he admitted that India's spinners would pose a challenge on any surface. "Harbhajan and Kumble are the kind of bowlers who can exploit any wicket. They are two great bowlers. We just have to handle them."

For Kumble this series is certain to be a memorable one. It is inconceivable that he will not pick up the one wicket that will take him past Kapil Dev. Sachin Tendulkar also has an opportunity to draw level with and even surpass Gavaskar's tally of 34 Test hundreds. But these are not the team's primary focus. "You can't go into a Test match like that," said Ganguly. "If things happen in the due course of the game, then they do. But you can't go into a Test thinking about records or about scoring this many runs or taking this many wickets. We have two guys in the team close to records - Anil and Sachin - so if it happens it will happen."

Probable teams
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Anil Kumble, 11 Zaheer Khan.

Bangladesh 1 Javed Omar, 2 Nafis Iqbal, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Rajin Saleh, 6 Mushifiqur Rahman, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 Manjarul Islam, 9 Mohammad Rafique, 10 Tapash Baisya, 11 Mashrafe Mortaza.