da poker： There is a huge portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the founder of thenation atop the Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka
da brwin： Partab Ramchand11-Nov-2000There is a huge portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the founder of thenation atop the Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka. It is my imagination ofcourse, but I am sure I saw him smiling down benignly on theBangladesh cricket team playing their inaugural Test against India.However there was no mistaking the real-life smile of his daughter andthe current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was very much present atthe stadium to watch her team in action before leaving midway throughto lead her country’s delegation to the Organisation of IslamicConference in Doha. For the second successive day, the Test debutantsperformed admirably. First, they notched up a first innings total of400 which was a bonus considering that they started the day at 239 forsix. Then, when the Indians batted they broke an opening stand whichwas looking ominous and at close the visitors were 81 for one after 26overs.On Friday, Aminul Islam shared the spotlight with Habibul Bashar.Today the 32-year-old former Bangladesh captain had the spotlightturned fully on him. In scoring 145, Aminul not only went into therecord books but also earned a new respect for his side. Bangladesh isa one day team and not fit for Test cricket, the critics said. Thebatsmen can bat for 30 overs but can they bat for six hours, theyasked. They got the answer today. Aminul batted 535 minutes andcompiled his runs off 379 balls. The fact that he hit 17 fours wasalmost incidental.Aminul was the rock on which the Bangladesh innings was built. Playingthe sheet anchor role to perfection, he was ninth out at 385 late onSaturday afternoon after having come in at 44 for two in the pre-lunchsession on Friday. He displayed all the qualities of a top class Testbatsman – dedication, determination, concentration, strokeplay andsoundness of technique and temparament. The fall of his partners atregular intervals did not deter him from his main task – that ofhelping his team post a challenging total. True, the pitch remainedbatsman friendly and the Indian bowling looked pretty innocuous butthis should not in any way detract anything from Aminul’s performance.It must not be forgotten that this is Bangladesh’s first taste of fiveday cricket and if the others had not yet adapted themselves fully tothe intricacies of the longer version of the game, Aminul did sonobly.When Bangladesh resumed this morning, 400 looked far away. But certainresilient qualities of the tail who supported Aminul admirably sawthem get a total which was the second highest made by a debutant Testnation – next only to Zimbabwe’s 456 against India at Harare in 1992.Aminul himself passed quite a few statistical landmarks. Getting tohis hundred bracketed him with Charles Bannerman of Australia in 1877and Dave Houghton of Zimbabwe in 1992 as the only batsmen to haveachieved this feat in their country’s first Test. After getting pastHoughton’s 121 he had Bannerman’s 165 (retired hurt) in sight. But hewas finally out to an uncharacteristic stroke, a mistimed heave on theleg side ending up in Srinath’s hands at mid on. He returned to astanding ovation from the flag waving, cheering crowd and withinminutes the rewards were announced. Sheikh Hasina announced three lakhtaka for him and this was followed by a two lakh taka reward from theSports Minister and chairman of the National Sports Council ObaidulQader. In addition, there was an announcement of a gold medal toAminul from the Bangabandhu Parishad, an association of cricket fans.Incidentally, Obaidul Qader also announced a reward of one lakh takafor Habibul Bashar for his 71 compiled on Friday.Aminul would be the first to admit that his feat would not have beenpossible but for the staunch support he received from the latter halfof the batting today. First, vice captain Khaled Masud (32) helped himin registering the highest partnership of the innings – 93 runs forthe seventh wicket off 41.5 overs. In fact, no wicket fell during thepre lunch session. Then the left handed Md Rafique (22) used the longhandle to good effect in adding 30 runs for the eighth wicket withAminul. And finally, fast bowler Habibul Hussain (28 not out) andAminul added 31 runs for the ninth wicket. All this prolonged theagony for the Indians who were in the field for almost eleven hours.That the Indian bowling is over dependent on Anil Kumble was provedbeyond doubt today. Srinath after a long lay off failed to impress andin fact looked pretty tame, bowling in tandem with Zaheer. Agarkar andMurali Kartik were just about passable. The tireless Sunil Joshi,suddenly elevated to the status of spin spearhead, shouldered hisresponsibility well enough and was rewarded with career best Testfigures of five for 142 from 45.3 overs. It was just as well theIndians took the field with five bowlers. What the position would havebeen with only four frontline bowlers is too frightening tocomprehend.In the face of an unexpectedly challenging total, a good start forIndia became imperative. Openers Sadagopan Ramesh and debutant ShivSundar Das provided it with a partnership of 66 runs off 19 overs.Both batsmen played confidently against both seam and spin and theylooked set for a long partnership when suddenly Das was bowled byNaimur Rahman. He shouldered arms to a ball that pitched outside theoff stump and to his horror found it turning sharply and hitting thetop of the off and middle stumps. Das had looked in good nick. Heplayed a few elegant drives and rasping square cuts and looked goodfor a long innings. But the 23-year-old Orissa opener had to becontent with 29 off 67 balls with four hits to the ropes.Das matched Ramesh in strokeplay and run production. The 25-year-oldleft hander from Chennai was in pleasing form and came throughunbeaten with 40 compiled off 67 balls and inclusive of fourboundaries. Keeping him company is nightwatchman Murali Karthik onseven. India have the perfect springboard to take off for a fittingreply to the Bangladesh total. The pitch, which is still a sleepingbeauty, and the long line of illustrious strokeplayers and insatiablerun getters are strong factors in their favour.
