A four-wicket victory against Bangladesh is not exactly a great result for India, bearing in mind the kind of form the team is in even without its senior players.
Chasing a total of 208, India stuttered as the inexperienced middle order was exposed. Gautam Gambhir won his first man-of-the-match award for his maiden half-century and was involved in a 69-run opening partnership with stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag, as Bangladesh crashed to its third successive defeat in the TVS Cup.
It's been a good week for Bangladesh cricket so far, at least by their own standards. Crossing the 200-run mark against South Africa on Monday, and against India today, is quite a feat for a team that got Test status before they could grasp the finer points of the abridged version of the game.
Though batting through their 50 overs is something they have not achieved yet in the tournament, getting to the last over of the mandatory 50 overs has been quite a triumph.
After being dismissed for 76 in the first game of the tournament against India, the Bangla boys scored 207, thanks to an industrious half-century from number three batsman Habibul Bashar.
When on a good run, the law of averages is the only thing a team should not catch. Australia does just that and wins ruthlessly. An Indian second-string team, led by Sehwag, gave a rather mediocre account of themselves at the Bangabandhu stadium on Wednesday.
Abhijeet Kale replaced Sourav Ganguly; Sanjay Bangar came in for Yuvraj Singh and Sarandeep Singh traded places with Harbhajan Singh.
The fall in performance was embarrassing; there were dropped catches, misfields and overthrows. Though 207 didn't seem a bad bowling performance, the likes of Alok Kapali, Bashar and Akram Khan aren't exactly in the Matthew Hayden or Rahul Dravid league.
Aavishkar Salvi exposed his rawness in the first over, which cost 11 runs. The talent is all there in the Mumbaikar, only his temperament is in question. His performance today could be passed off as an off day, but if it continues it could well mean his days are numbered.
Ajit Agarkar shattered Mohammad Ashraful's off stump into two pieces before Mehrab Hossain delved into Salvi. Sehwag replaced him with Bangar in the 13th over and the last-named got a wicket with his first delivery -- a rank bad ball drifting down leg that Mehrab flicked for a catch in the deep.
Bangladesh, who were 49-2 inside the first fifteen overs, could have been in a worse situation had Dinesh Mongia held on to two regulation catches. None of the partnerships lasted for even 50 balls until Akram Khan and Bashar came together to stem the apparent rot.
If Salvi and Bangar's bowling performances were deplorable, Bangladesh's batting was even poorer. Javed Omar and Alok Kapali perished, playing early and failing to read Sarandeep's guile.
The Indian spinners spun the ball with the curl of a comma, forcing the Bangladeshi batsmen to try and sweep, only to scythe arcs in the air. Both Mishra and Sarandeep though were guilty of overstepping as much as the seamers, which, in the abridged version of the game, is unpardonable.
The standards on the field fell further when Parthiv Patel missed a simple stumping chance of Akram Khan and substitute fielder Harbhajan Singh let the ball pass through his legs at mid-off even as the overthrows continued.
Sehwag is an invisible captain, though it would be unfair to judge him in a one-off game. He lets the bowlers settle down and get into their groove but fails to employ the field according to the line being bowled.
In one Sarandeep over, Akram Khan shaped to sweep the ball, failed to read the turn and top-edged the ball in the air. The gaffe was repeated thrice. With no close-in fielders, the best stand of the Bangladesh innings, of 46 runs, flourished unchecked.
A few lusty blows from Akram Khan and skipper Khalid Mahmud pushed the score beyond the projected 180-run mark to 207.
A special mention for leggie Amit Mishra, who bowls with unchanging accuracy and turns the ball more than Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh put together. If Anil Kumble decides to call it a day before the New Zealand series, Mishra will be a deadly combination with Harbhajan Singh on the Australia tour at the end of the year.
The Indian think-tank decided against opening with Parthiv Patel and gave Gautam Gambhir another go at the opening slot. Sehwag walked in and walked off in less than an hour with a 44-ball 43, laced with eight hits to the fence -- four in one over from seamer Tariq Aziz.
Patel walked in at number three and looked good for his 27, barring the edge that flew between the keeper and first slip.
India lost three quick wickets for 14 runs in the middle, failing to cope with the slow turning Bangabandhu pitch. Kaif sacrificed his wicket and was run-out when Gambhir erred in judging a single. Bangar prodded his pad in front of the wickets and was shown the crooked finger by umpire Billy Bowden.
Gambhir, batting with studious intensity, seemed determined to get a big score in after two earlier failures. Scoring six of his nine boundaries through the off side, he controlled the Indian innings before being caught at the wicket trying to cut leg spinner Alok Kapali for 71.
The Indian passage was suddenly taken off the rails. Abhijeet Kale impressed in the brief innings he played but was deceived in flight by spinner Ashraful. Sending him down at number six, ahead of Patel and Sanjay Bangar, seemed a touch unfair. For a specialist middle-order batsman it would have made more sense to send him up the order to test his character.
Dinesh Mongia and Ajit Agarkar saw India through to the Bangladeshi total with seven overs to spare.
