Back home, India (Azh)are (Ban)glad(esh)

The sponsor was the same as the previous tournament (Coca-Cola). The format, too, was the same (a triangular series). But besides hosts India, the tournament would feature neighbours Bangladesh and Kenya.

The Indians made five changes to their playing eleven – Sachin Tendulkar, Nayan Mongia, V V S Laxman, Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad made way for Rahul Dravid, Robin Singh, Debasis Mohanty, and a couple of One-day International debutants, Gagan Khoda and Mannava Prasad.

Bangladesh made five changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Shahriar Hossain, Javed Omar, Akram Khan, Shafiuddin Ahmed and Shariful Haque made way for Athar Ali Khan, Minhajul Abedin, Naimur Rahman, and a couple of One-day International debutants, Mehrab Hossain [a shot off whose (Lam)bat struck the skull of the former India cricketer Raman in a club match earlier that year, resulting in the untimely demise of the swashbuckling batsman] and Morshed Ali Khan.

On winning the toss, Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, inserted the visitors. Sanwar Hossain, who faced four balls, didn’t get off the mark. An over into the match, Ajit Agarkar broke the two-run stand. Athar, whose 27-ball innings included a boundary, scored 15. Forty-five balls later, he was caught by Mohanty. Agarkar broke the 31-run stand.

Abedin, who faced 40 balls, scored 14. Thirty-seven balls later, he was caught by Dravid. Singh broke the 19-run stand. Mehrab, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary, scored (Sangh)VI. Nineteen balls later, Rahul broke the nine-run stand.

Rahman, who faced 58 balls, scored 25. A hundred and thirty-four balls later, he was caught by Azharuddin. Sanghvi broke the 71-run partnership. Aminul Islam, whose 126-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 70. Forty-three balls later, Agarkar broke the 31-run stand.

Mohammad Rafique, who faced a couple of balls, scored a run. Five balls later, he was caught by Mohanty. Hrishikesh Kanitkar broke the nine-run stand. The eighth-wicket pair put on 10. Hasibul Hossain, who faced three balls, scored a run. Nine balls later, Prasad (better known by his initials, M S K) and Agarkar ran him out.

The ninth-wicket pair put on a couple. Khaled Mahmud, whose 35-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 31. A couple of balls later, Prasad ran him out. His namesake, Mashud, didn’t face a ball. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 21 extras. Bangladesh scored 184 for the loss of nine wickets off 50 overs. Sourav Ganguly, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 21. He was wicketless, as was Mohanty, who bowled seven overs, including a maiden. He conceded 18.

Kanitkar, who bowled nine overs, conceded 30. He picked up a wicket, as did Singh, who bowled 10 overs, conceding 32. Sanghvi, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 35. He picked up a couple of wickets. Agarkar bowled eight overs, including a maiden. He conceded 41, picking up three scalps.

Although his 14-ball innings included a boundary, Ganguly had no reason to be in seventh heaven – 19 balls into the chase, he was caught by Morshed, who broke the 12-run stand. Azharuddin, whose 41-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 31. Seventy balls later, he was caught by Mashud. Mahmud broke the 43-run stand.

Khoda, whose 56-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 26. Thirty-eight balls later, he was caught by Mashud. Athar broke the 30-run stand. Dravid, who faced 22 balls, scored five. Forty-one balls later, he was caught by Athar, who broke the 20-eun stand.

Ajay Jadeja, the player of the match, scored 73. His 101-ball innings included eight boundaries. Seventeen overs later, he was caught by Mashud. Hasibul broke the 78-run partnership. Singh, whose 37-ball innings included a boundary, scored 27. He was unbeaten, as was Kanitkar, who faced a ball, scored a run.

Bangladesh conceded 15 runs. India, who scored 185 for the loss of five wickets off 45.2 overs, won by five wickets with 28 balls to spare. Rafique, who bowled seven wicketless overs, conceded 35.

Hasibul, who bowled nine overs, conceded 44. He picked up a wicket. Mahmud bowled 9.2 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 35, picking up a wicket. Morshed, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 31. He picked up a wicket. Athar, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 33. He picked up a couple of scalps.