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InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > Indian Cricket Team's Bangladesh Tour > India seeking to carry Test domination into ODIs 18.00 IST 22nd Dec 2004 By IndiaExpress Bureau 
Unmoved by Harbhajan Singh the episode, India will seek to maintain the domination they established in the Test matches when they take on Bangladesh in the first encounter of the three-match One-Day series in Chittagong on Thursday.Harbhajan was reported for suspect bowling action during the second Test but that seems to have had little or no impact on the Indians who were preparing to sweep the series and end what has been a roller-coaster year on a positive note. "It is a routine, a number of bowlers have been reported in the last few months. It has become part and parcel of the game," coach John Wright said. "Harbhajan and the whole team is pretty relaxed. We want to try and replicate the performance of the test series. We are looking for a 3-0 result." Bangladesh on the other hand would be drawing hope from their spirited performance in the first innings of the second Test which saw young Mohammad Ashraful hit a dazzling 158 not out. The 20-year-old right-handed batsman became the top scorer for Bangladesh in Tests and the disdainful manner in which he batted against Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan should inspire more confidence in the hosts. Bangladesh, after coming close to avoid the follow on mark, then collapsed in the second innings as they lost nine wickets in 26 overs on the same day. Yet, if their graph should come anywhere near to the heights of that third day's performance, the lowest ranked Test team could pose a more serious challenge in the series. Bangladesh's weakness has been its batting against the new ball. But in the shorter version of the game, a team that holds itself firm for a session could match the best. "Yes, we expect ourselves to put up a better fight," said coach Dave Whatmore, who called for consistency from his players. "We need to show the resistance like we did in the first innings." From India's point of view, the spotlight would be on Mahendra Singh Dhoni who replaced Dinesh Karthik as the wicketkeeper-batsman. The Jharkhand player, who originally hails from Uttaranchal, has earned rave reviews for his batting exploits, which is the primary reason why he was being tried out. "From all reports that we have received, he is suited for the One-Day game and the selectors thought it was time to give him a chance. It is tough on Dinesh (Karthik) but that is what the selectors had to decide, and it is not a bad thing," Wright said. There were also a few comeback cases, including that of Yuvraj Singh who returns to the Indian team after being dropped from the Test squad. His Punjab captain Dinesh Mongia is another player who is back in the team after a gap of nearly 18 months. Incidentally, Mongia's last appearance in a One-Day match was also in Bangladesh in the TVS Cup Tri-series in April 2003. Mohammad Kaif would be in the thick of action for the first time in two weeks he has been in this country while Murali Kartik, as well as Ajit Agarkar, might also play as the strike bowlers could be rested in turn. Sridharan Sriram, who has played six One-Day Internationals, the latest being way back in 2000-01 in Rajkot against Zimbabwe, and Joginder Sharma, the Haryana player hoping to make his debut, are the other two players in contention. The second and third One-Dayers were to be played under floodlights in Dhaka on Sunday and Monday. India enjoy a cent per cent record against Bangladesh, having won all their 11 matches. The slate is likely to be as clean when they return home for the New Year. The teams (from): India: Sourav Ganguly (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Sridharan Sriram, MS Dhoni (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Murali Karthik, Joginder Sharma. Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (Captain), Khaled Mashud, Rajin Saleh, Khaled Mahmud, Mohammad Rafique, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahman, Tapash Baisya, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nafis Iqbal, Manjural Islam, Aftab Ahmed and Nazmul Hossain. in-depth coverage > Indian Cricket Team's Bangladesh Tour > |
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