Dinesh Kaarthick, who had powered the Indian innings before cramping out just 18 runs short of a hundred, was almost shoved aside by cameramen chasing after the charismatic Begum Khaleda Zia, who had just stepped out after a high-profile meeting with US Ambassador Patricia Butenis.

And Mahendra Dhoni, already eyeing his slice of the run feast on a paata wicket, was left wondering whether something had gone wrong home back home.

Sachin Tendulkar, settling down for the long haul tomorrow, was amused; and skipper Rahul Dravid, a late flurry taking him to 88, a bit bemused. But then, they all got squeezed into the lift, laughing and joking.

“I am delighted that the team management was behind me. They backed me after the first Test and if their backing was not there, I would not have been playing this game,” Wasim Jaffer chipped in, after his 17-four, 229-ball 137, limping out of the field 24 overs after Kaarthick.

To wrap it up, quite a happy, eventful day for Team India, with the bright sun allowing a full day's play for the first time in this series, and the game firmly in their grasp. Eventful? What else, after 326 for no loss, and four batsmen having a go in the middle.

Kaarthick had retired hurt for 82, squeezed by cramps on the back of his left thigh, but only after pulling Team India out of the rut they seemed to have slid into at one stage. Jaffer had cramped up too, but only after a quick, uncharacteristic hug from his captain, for simply keeping the faith, for the third time in three straight Test series — West Indies, South Africa, and now here.

Then, there was Dravid himself, enjoying a jolly, late-afternoon outing sprinkled with 11 fours and a six, Tendulkar revving up at 9. And, with five-bowler Bangladesh finally calling on part-time leggie Mohammad Ashraful an hour after tea in sheer desperation, it was clear which way this Test was headed.

Surely, home skipper Habibul Bashar would be kicking himself for winning the toss and giving India what they had wanted. Surely, Bashar would have known that his strike pacer Mashrafe Mortaza had been to the doctor last night for a temperature check, that his colleague Shahadat Hossain had been ruled out due to viral fever.

But then, the decision to field, if given a chance, had already been firmed up — Bashar and coach Dav Whatmore “didn't want to take a chance” on this 'debut' pitch, after “inputs” that it had been yielding early wickets in domestic matches.

Obviously, it was a wrong call —Whatmore admitted that he had misread the wicket, a blunder that shone through as clear as the morning sun by the 11th over, when pacer Mohammad Sharif's second ball reached keeper Khalid Mashud on the second bounce.

So, the grind began, with Kaarthick and Jaffer walking out with this message: no wickets till lunch, please. And Jaffer, stung by those two ducks in Chittagong, asking Kaarthick to take first strike.

Jaffer began to build his comeback innings, brick by carefully placed brick, pulling out those familiar strokes one by one— the flick on the backfoot, the punch through covers, the cover drive leaning forward, and of course, two pulls.

And Kaarthick, who looked like smashing through with two fours in the sixth over, stopped construction temporarily after a wild slash two overs later flew to Saqibul Hassan at second slip for a simple drop — 10 off 24 balls, dropped off the 25th ball, just 12 off the next 60 balls. India? 38 from 13 overs in the first hour; just 29 from 13 overs in the next.

But then came lunch, a quick revision, and just when almost everybody had reached for the sleeping shades, Kaarthick shook them awake. Exactly 74 runs came in that one-hour burst off 15 overs, with the 24-year-old on-driving, off-driving, cutting, and once even late-cutting left-arm pacer Syed Rasel, for fours.

The crowd began to perk up, this was what they had crammed in here by the hundreds for — so what if their hero Mortaza was taken apart by Kaarthick with three straight fours, two screaming past the bowler on either side, and a glance that gave fine-leg no chance. Even Jaffer obliged, after being dropped himself by left-arm spinner Mohd Rafique at 42, on-driving Sharif in style, rolling his wrists gracefully to pull Rasel.

Unfortunately though, Mortaza pulled up midway in the next over, his ankle now hurting, and Kaarthick started hobbling while crossing over for a single from 74 to 75. Then, 175 runs from the opening pair to lean on, Dravid walked in, the fatigued Rasel took over again, and the buzz slowly died down.

Well, Dravid did pull out a few dazzling strokes, too — two patent on-drives against veteran Rafique standing out — to race past his fifty in just 75 balls. But after tea, the humidity had drained so much that when Mortaza bowled a short one, Jaffer, almost in slow motion, swivelled on his hips to guide it backward of square, where the fielder, again as if in slow motion, tried reached for it, only to watch the ball roll over.

So there you go, India looking ahead towards the 600-mark, and Anil Kumble, getting another valuable day's rest, eyeing that one ball from Rafique that surprised Jaffer - it pitched on a growing spot just outside off-stump and slip through shin-high. Well, the cameras better be there.

SCORECARD

India (1st innings):

D Kaarthick retired hurt 82

W Jaffer retired hurt 138

R Dravid batting 88

S Tendulkar batting 9

Extras: (lb-4, w-1, nb-4) 9

Total: (for no loss, 90 overs) 326

Bowling: M Mortaza 19.4-4-49-0, S Rasel 13.4-0-64-0, M Sharif 13.4-0-56-0, M Rafique 22-2-85-0, Saqibul Hasan 13-1-33-0, M Ashraful 8-0-35-0.