For starters the press box, which in the past offered excellent facilities to local and foreign media, was without a television set until two hours before start of play.

One had to be brought from the residence of CJKS vice-president and Awami League leader AZM Nasiruddin and the other from the Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association (BSJA) office.

Besides, a few policemen watched proceedings from the top floor of the media centre, which was renovated before the home series against England last October. However, they eventually vacated the air-conditioned room as soon as reporters appeared.

WHY SO FEW TICKETS?
Hundreds of fans, mostly students, began agitating 45 minutes after the match began when they realised that booths had run out of tickets.

Apparently, organisers had anticipated a low turnout before the second Test in light of what happened in Dhaka last week revealed by CJKS treasurer Syed Shahabu-ddin Shamim.

"We didn't imagine such a good turnout. So we printed fewer tickets. This was a mistake," he said.

In an effort to overcome the crisis organisers initially released the tickets printed for the fifth day changing the date of issue by hand. And by 1 pm tickets for the fourth day were quickly snapped up.

Shamim said: "In addition to pavilion, VIP and complimentary tickets, we had arranged around 3,000 tickets for each day for both western and eastern gallery.

"But now have decided to release 7,000 tickets everyday from tomorrow," he added.

CJKS TK 62,000 RICHER
Despite the initial ticket shortage, the CJKS said that it had made a profit of Tk 62,000 on the opening day, the CJKS treasurer informed.

Shamim believed the reason for the bumper sale was because most fans came to ground expecting to watch the Tigers bat.

HAWK FLIES OVER STADIUM
At around 11.20 am when New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and Scot Styris were at the crease, some hawks suddenly flew over MA Aziz Stadium.

The birds of prey are rarely seen in this part of the country. And so their appearance prompted a superstitious person among the crowd to utter: "Do the hawks appear as a sign of misfortune for Bangladesh team?"