Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag shared a century partnership for the seventh time, but neither could go on to a substantial score as Bangladesh bowled with spirit and determination in the first session on the second day. Their surprise weapon was the short ball, and the joy in the stands would have been far greater if Rahul Dravid hadn’t enjoyed some good fortune just before lunch.

Openers exit but runs keep flowing

He had made just nine when Shafiul Islam claimed a run-out after Gambhir smashed one straight back down the pitch. The Bangladeshis were convinced that Shafiul’s little finger had brushed the ball, but with replays inconclusive, the third umpire had to rule in the batsman’s favour. Then, when he was on 28, an excellent bouncer from Rubel Hossain caught him unawares. The fend was superbly caught by Junaid Siddique at slip, but even as Dravid trudged off, Billy Bowden was signalling a no-ball.

Having resumed on 69 for 0, the Indians had seen Sehwag survive a very good shout from Shahadat Hossain early on, and when he then cracked one through the covers to reach 50, the omens were ominous. Gambhir too was in fluent touch, clipping Shafiul through midwicket and using both cute deflections and the straight bat to pinch fours off Shahadat Hossain.

Sehwag bludgeoned one straight to bring up three figures, but the very next delivery reared up at him and took the glove on its way to Mushfiqur Rahim. Dravid took his time to play himself in, and Gambhir assumed the scoring mantle, with a back-foot punch and a guide through the slips off Shafiul taking him to a half-century for the 11th match in succession – equalling the record set by Sir Vivian Richards.

Having found his bearings, Dravid started to play some gorgeous strokes through cover, off pace and spin alike, and when Gambhir was caught in an ungainly tangle by Shafiul’s bouncer, it was very much against the grain of play. But with Tendulkar easing his way into the proceedings with a nudge here and a push there, it was still India that held the ace-hand as the teams went to lunch.