India vs Bangladesh: When Zaheer Khan slammed 75 at No. 11, Sachin equalled Gavaskar

Bengaluru, June 8: The Indian Test squad led by Virat Kohli reached Dhaka on Monday for the one-off match starting at Fatullah on Wednesday, June 10. [India vs Bangladesh Test at Fatulla: 10 facts]

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Schedule; Full tour coverage; Indian squad

The two teams have played seven Test matches so far with India winning six of them. One game has been drawn. All the Tests have been played in Bangladesh.

Though the history of India-Bangladesh Test rivalry has been short, but it has not fallen short of excitement. The second-ever match between the two sides played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka in December 2004 was one such one.

It was the first of the two Tests played between the two Asian sides. Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first. A five-for by Irfan Pathan saw Bangladesh getting skittled out for 184 in just 57.5 overs. Mohammad Ashraful was their top scorer with 60 off 135 balls.

India were rattled at the top as they lost 3 wickets for just 68 runs with ace batsman Rahul Dravid dismissed for a naught. The Bangladeshi pacers were putting up a determined show but soon Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly tamed them with authority.

The duo put on 164 runs for the fifth wicket but Ganguly's departure saw India rocked again and not in a position to extend the lead by much. With 9 wickets down for 393, the lead was not looking as big India would have liked it to, despite a superb ton by Tendulkar, who equalled Sunil Gavaskar's record 34 Test hundreds.

But India's No. 11 batsman Zaheer Khan had other things in mind. The left-arm pacer, who took just 2 wickets in the Bangladeshi innings, came to the party with his right-hand batting skills and took on the Bangladeshi bowlers. The last-wicket partnership between Tendulkar and Khan produced 133 runs in 31 overs with the latter scoring 75 of those runs. Zaheer Khan fell to part-time spinner Mohammad Ashraful in his first over when he was stumped by wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud.

Khan hit 10 boundaries and 2 over-boundaries in his 115-ball innings that lasted a little over 2 hours. Tendulkar, on the other hand, remained unbeaten on 248 off 379 balls, and it remained his highest-ever Test score.

India eventually scored 526 runs, taking a lead of 342 runs. The hosts couldn't really meet the challenge and were all out for 202 in their second innings, losing the match by an innings and 140 runs. Pathan took 6 wickets in the second innings and was adjudged the man of the match.

But Zaheer Khan's 75 at No. 11 remained the unique point of the match. It remained the highest score at No. 11 for almost a decade till West Indies' Tino Best bettered it with his 95. The current record of highest score at No. 11 belongs to Australia's Aston Agar who hit a 98 versus England in 2013.

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