Bangladesh accepts India's superior skills

Till not too long ago, when there used to be a bloody revolution quite often in Bangladesh, the international press had another name for the country - 'Coupdesh' they called it. If the Bangladesh team is able to defeat India in their first ever Test which commences at the Bangabandhu stadium on Friday, it would be a major cricketing coup - of the bloodless type.

Even the most passionate of cricket fans in the country has finally accepted what the cricketing world knew all along - that India is far superior in all departments of the game. This was finally accepted by Naimur Rahman today. Talking to reporters after a strenuous net session, the 27-year-old Bangladesh captain admitted that the main aim of his team was to force a draw ''which would be a good result.'' And then he went a step further. ''It would not be bad either if we take the match to a fifth day.''

This attitude could be criticised in some circles as defeatist but on the other hand it is better to face reality than to put up an act of bravado. Viewed from this angle, Naimur Rahman's approach is more pragmatic. And he certainly has the backing of the team management, the selectors and the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Coach Sarwar Imran has also been echoing the same views as the captain's. ''We will not take more than four bowlers. On this type of wicket no team takes more than four bowlers.'' He has also advocated a bowling approach based on attack. ''If we bowl like we do in one-day cricket, a team like India may bat for more then two days against us.''

>From the home team's point of view, this strategy may not be a bad idea. For one thing, the pitch looks batsman friendly. And Bangladesh's strength - though one uses that word with reservations - has been the batting. As such, they are likely to take the field with seven batsmen and four bowlers which has always been the team management's thinking given the composition of the team given to them by the selectors and by the pressing need of the present situation where they are pitted against mighty opposition.

And what about the mighty opposition's tactics? Sourav Ganguly and his team know that they are far superior in skill, experience, technical expertise and staying power than their opponents. But they are guarding against complacency knowing fully well that the pressure is on them. For them, it is an embarrassment of riches and as coach Anshuman Gaekwad put it just before the team commenced its net session ''we have so many options.'' The Indian team can play six batsmen and four bowlers or five bowlers and five batsmen. In the bowling options, they can play two seamers and two spinners or three seamers and one spinner. Whatever the final option, it would seem to be too much for Bangladesh.

In the event, by the end of the net session, the Indian 14 had been whittled down and not unexpectedly, Venkatesh Prasad and Yuveraj Singh will sit out. This gives the impression that the team management is veering towards the idea of fielding five batsmen and five bowlers. The thinking would seem to be that against Bangladesh five batsmen are enough to make the necessary runs but an extra bowler might be needed to bowl them out in case the home team batsmen turn out to be skilfully obdurate.

India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, SS Das, S Ramesh, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Saba Karim, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath, Murali Kartik, Sunil Joshi and Zaheer Khan.

Bangladesh: Naimur Rahman (captain), Khaled Masood (wicketkeeper), Mehrab Hossain, Shahriar Hossain, Javed Omar Belim, Aminul Islam, Akram Khan, Al-Shahriar, Habibul Bashar, Md Rafique, Enamul Haque, Hasibul Hossain, Manjural Islam, Bikash Ranjan Das, Fahim Muntasir and Rajin Saleh.

Umpires: David Shepherd (England) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies).

Hours of play: 9.30 to 11.30 am. 12.10 to 2.10 pm. 2.30 to 4.30 pm.