Fighting talk as Sehwag throws down gauntlet

An extraordinary war of words broke out on the eve of the first Test between Bangladesh and India, which starts in Chittagong today. The Indian opener, Virender Sehwag, who will captain the side after the wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni pulled out with a back spasm injury, said of Bangladesh's chances in the two-match series: "They can surprise teams in one-dayers, but not in Test cricket." The Bangladesh coach, Jamie Siddons, retorted: "He should stay away from the microphone. Every team has good and bad phases."

India start as overwhelming favourites and Sehwag dismissed any chance of Bangladesh upsetting the world's top-ranked Test team as Dinesh Karthik comes into the fold in place of Dhoni. He said: "They are an ordinary side in Test cricket. I don't think they can beat us. It is not over confidence, but Bangladesh cannot take 20 Indian wickets. Even Sri Lanka could not do it. It is difficult for Bangladesh to beat us." But Siddons said: "His comments might bite him on his backside in a few years time. It might even happen in a week's time. We are definitely not an ordinary side. We are an improving side and that's what we are hoping to show in this Test series. We could hopefully prove Sehwag wrong.

"We don't have the potency in our pace attack like Australia and South Africa have, but hopefully, our pacers do well against India. We can make enough runs and use declaration to put pressure on India." Shakib al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, added: "It is true we haven't played a Test match for quite some time, but hopefully that will not pose a problem for us to adapt to Test mode." He added: "India are the world No 1 Test side. They are playing well and they have a very good batting line-up. But Australia and South Africa are better sides than India. That is what I think.

"It's true that they are playing well, but they are human beings and they will make mistakes. We have also played well against some good sides. We won against West Indies last July. If our key players come up with some good performance, we can even win even this Test series. I think this will be an interesting series. I am confident we will have a good chance if we can score 700 runs in the two innings."

arizvi@thenational.ae