INDIAN COUNTER ATTACK BANGLADESH 53/3

 Indian pacers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma did the early damage to put Bangladesh under pressure in the opening Test

Bangladesh were well placed at 53/0 before slipping to 59/3 at stumps on the second day in reply to India's first-innings total of 243, with Zaheer taking two wickets in successive overs and Sharma one.

Raqibul Hasan was unbeaten on one and Mohammad Ashraful had yet to open his account when play was called off due to bad light. Only 24.5 overs were bowled because of poor weather on Monday.

Sachin Tendulkar earlier scored a superb 105 not out under pressure for his 44th Test century to boost India's total. He cracked two sixes and 11 fours in his 166-ball knock.

Bangladesh then got off to a sound start, with left-handed openers Tamim Iqbal (31) and Imrul Kayes (23) playing some attractive shots against the Indian strike bowlers.

Iqbal was initially more aggressive, scoring 21 in the opening four overs before his partner opened his account.

Kayes outscored Iqbal after lunch, hitting left-arm seamer Zaheer for two boundaries in an over and then driving S Sreesanth for a four.

Zaheer broke the partnership when he removed Kayes, who was trapped leg-before while playing across the line. He then bowled Iqbal in his next over with a delivery that kept low.

Sharma's lone victim was Shahriar Nafees, who was caught by VVS Laxman at second slip after contributing only four.

India posted their lowest-ever total against Bangladesh despite Tendulkar's century. Their previous lowest in a completed innings was 429 in Dhaka in 2000.
Tendulkar, who had only tail-enders Sharma and Sreesanth for company, went for shots early in the morning in pursuit of his century.

Resuming on his overnight score of 76, he pulled Shahadat for a four in the first over after play started 90 minutes late due to fog, and then hoisted Shakib over long-on for a six.

Tendulkar was on 93 when last-man Sreesanth joined him and completed his century with two successive fours off Shahadat
INDIA 243

STUMPS  DAY 2

Batting Career Batsman Status R B 4's 6's SR Mat Runs Ave Tamim Iqbal b Zaheer Khan 31 45 6 0 68.89 13 639 27.78 Imrul Kayes lbw Zaheer Khan 23 46 5 0 50 7 184 14.15 Shahriar Nafees c VVS Laxman b Ishant Sharma 4 3 1 0 133.33 16 814 26.26 Mohammad Ashraful not out 0 5 0 0 0 51 2149 23.11 Raqibul Hasan not out 1 3 0 0 33.33 6 230 23 Shakib Al Hasan (C) Mahmudullah Mushfiqur Rahim (W) Shafiul Islam Shahadat Hossain Rubel Hossain Total:(59/3 in 17.0 overs) Extras: 0(NB-0, WB-0, LB-0, Byes - 0, Penalty-0) Run Rate: 3.47

Fall of wickets: 1/53(Imrul Kayes, 14.4 ov.), 2/58(Shahriar Nafees, 15.2 ov.), 3/58(Tamim Iqbal, 16.2 ov.) Bowling Career Bowler O M R W NB WB E/R Mat Wkts Ave Zaheer Khan 9.0 1 32 2 3.56 69 222 33.8 Sreesanth 3.0 0 13 0 4.33 17 58 31.48 Ishant Sharma 5.0 1 14 1 2.8 20 55 34.05 India team: Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra Abbreviations: (R - Runs, B - Balls, 4s - Fours, 6s - Sixes, S/R - Strike Rate, nb - No Balls, wb - Wide Balls, LB - Leg Byes, O - Overs, M - Maidens, W - Wickets, E/R - Economy Rate)