OTD – Bangladesh became the tenth Test-playing nation as they began their first Test against India in 2000

Dhaka Stadium was decked up for a huge occasion as home team Bangladesh were set to make their Test debut. Their very first opponents were India who were one of the principal voices in Bangladesh getting their Test status. As the two teams made their way onto the field a huge crowd cheered both sides. 

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who is loved in Bangladesh and Naimur Rahman came out for the toss. It was the home team who chose to bat first after winning the toss. For India, Zaheer Khan, Saba Karim, and Shiv Sundar Das were making their Test debuts. 

Bangladesh on the other hand had a few names who had done well in the ODI format. Players like Akram Khan, Mohammad Rafique, Habibul Bashar and Aminul Islam had already created a niche for themselves. 

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Bangladesh makes early impact but end up losing side

It was a dream debut for the Test debutants as the Bangladeshi side managed to score an imposing 400 on the board. This was a huge total against an Indian bowling attack that had the likes of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, and Sunil Joshi. 

Habibul Bashar became the first Bangladeshi player to record a Test fifty as he scored 71 runs. His knock came off 112 balls with ten fours in 157 minutes in the middle. Aminul Islam batted for 535 minutes to score his 145 off 380 balls before he was out to Ajit Agarkar. It was a dream debut for the veteran batter who was cheered by the massive crowd. Sunil Joshi was the best bowler for India with 5/142 from his 45.3 overs.

In reply, India were all out for 429 to take a slender lead of 29 runs in the first innings. Opener SS Das scored 29 while S Ramesh scored 58 off 92 balls. Murali Kartik sent in as nightwatchman scored 43 off 119 balls. Sachin Tendulkar was out for only 18 while skipper Ganguly scored 84 off 153 balls. The best batter for India was Sunil Joshi who scored 92 off 180 balls with 9 hits to the fence. Naimur Rahman was the best bowler for the hosts with 6/132 from 44.3 overs. 

Bangladesh were all out for 91 in their 2nd innings with Habibul Bashar’s 30 and Khaled Mashud’s 21 the only double figures. Srinath and Joshi picked 3 wickets each as India had to chase 63 runs to win. The win came with 9 wickets in hand as the visitors scored 64 runs off 15 overs. Das was not out on 22 and Dravid scored 41 not out from 49 balls with five fours and a six. The winning hit came off a huge six which was India’s first and only six of the game.  

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