The Hindu : Sport : Indian team in Dhaka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 09, 2004

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Indian team in Dhaka

By Sanjay Rajan

Virender Sehwag with wife Arti on their arrival in Dhaka on Wednesday. - Photo: V.V. Krishnan

DHAKA, DEC. 8. The cloud of uncertainty which surrounded India's tour of Bangladesh the past few days, owing to a terrorist threat, was cleared when Sourav Ganguly and his men arrived here on Wednesday for the two Tests beginning on December 10, followed by a three-match One-Day series.

It is still not sure if Chittagong will host the second Test and the first ODI as per schedule. The Indian security delegation visited the port city on Wednesday and the talk doing the round in the Bangladesh Board's corridors was that all the matches would be shifted to the capital. The delegation will first submit its report to India's External Affairs ministry.

The Indian team's manager, Sudhakar Rao, was happy with the security arrangements at the team hotel and the Bangabandhu National Stadium, the venue of the first Test. The former Karnataka cricketer, who was part of the security delegation, did not travel to Chittagong as he had to receive the team.

Ganguly brushed aside all questions pertaining to the team's security, saying, "We have just landed. I do not know about the security situation here".

The team did not practice in the afternoon and Mr. Rao said the side would have a net session on Thursday morning.

Ganguly does not view the Bangladesh series as just a launch pad for preparation ahead of the home series against Pakistan in February. "That (Pakistan tour) is a long way off. There is a lot of time to think about that," said the cricketer from Bengal, whose first Test as captain was Bangladesh's inaugural Test back in 2000. The sides have not met since.

Asked whether he would find it difficult to motivate his boys against an opposition that has not registered a victory in its 32-Test history, Ganguly said, "Test cricket is motivation enough. Bangladesh is a Test side. You cannot afford to take any Test side lightly."

Time to settle down

Ganguly is keen that his boys stay focused on the game. It is obviously difficult for the Indian team to channelise its thoughts and energies immediately on the series, considering the uncertainty that has surrounded the start. Given the situation, postponing the first Test by a day gives the teams extra time to settle down.

Not that the Indians find it new to have security personnel around them. Come to think of it, the security was much more during the high-profile Pakistan tour earlier this year.

There have been several cases of tours being put off or shortened owing to security reasons, but it is not often that cricketers themselves have been threatened. Indeed, the Indian side had displayed courage by coming on the tour.

The Bangladesh team, under Habibul Bashar, had a net session in the morning. The last few days have seen the focus shift from cricket to whether the tour would be on or not.

Bangladesh's worry has been its batting, the top-order especially. The team's think-tank had contemplated on giving a seaming track, and then realised that the moving ball would expose its top-order.

Bashar's men have to contend with India's spin twins, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. The two have had an astonishing run this season. Bashar agreed, saying the duo is already playing on his team's mind. The pitch is expected to be a batsman's paradise.

The Test series could see Sachin Tendulkar (33 centuries) take a crack at Sunil Gavaskar's world record of 34 hundreds. Anil Kumble is just a wicket away from upstaging Kapil Dev's record of 434 Test scalps. Harbhajan is 15 victims short of the 200-wicket mark and seamer Zaheer Khan is just four wickets from reaching the 100-wicket mark.

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