Rain, more rain at Fatullah

The rain gods continued to dictate terms at Fatullah which meant the fourth day of the one-off Test between Bangladesh and India was no different, except for a short yet enterprising story knitted in 30 odd rain-permitted overs yesterday.

Heavy rain came 10 minutes before the scheduled lunch break, a common feature ever since the match started on Wednesday last, compelling the umpires to call off the day's play after nearly a four-hour wait.

So, going into the fifth and final day today one can safely conclude that the game is heading towards nothing but a frustrating draw despite some worrying signs in the Bangladesh camp after the loss of two quick wickets that had fallen on the fourth morning before rain poured in.

Especially the dismissal of Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim just before the rain made many searching for an answer about whether the country's best batsman have been going through a bad patch or his finger injury is hindering his normal batting. The hosts were reduced to 111 for three in 30.1 overs after India declared at their overnight score of 462 for 6 as Mushfiqur, who had a poor showing with the bat against Pakistan too, got an inside edge from Ravichandran Ashwin to reach the safe hands of Rohit Sharma at leg slip after Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque had already walked back to the dressing room.

A technically sound batsman, Mushfiqur came forward to defend the ball that dipped outside off but spun in sharply to get the inside edge.

During that brief period of batting time left-handed Tamim however made a small piece of history as he became the country's highest Test run-scorer when he reached seven on the fourth morning, crossing former skipper-turned-selector Habibul Bashar's 3,026 runs.

In the third over, Tamim clipped pacer Ishant Sharma towards fine-leg for two off the eighth ball he faced to reach the milestone but the Chittagonian was dismissed for only 19 runs as Ashwin got one to dip and beat the outside edge of Tamim for Wriddhiman Saha to complete his first stumping before a 12-minute break for drizzling.

All eyes were then fixed on another southpaw Mominul Haque as he threatened to equal AB de Villiers's record of half-centuries in 12 consecutive Tests, but the diminutive batsman skied a slow loopy off-break from Harbhajan Singh to end with 30 runs. It is unlikely he will get another shot at the record as it seems Bangladesh may not need to bat again, especially when there is a forecast of rain also on the final day of the Test.

Opener Imrul Kayes however continued his good form as the left-hander remained not out on 59 while Shakib Al Hasan accompanied him with naught. Imrul looked confident since he started the innings with Tamim after India had declared their innings. The left-hander struck 10 boundaries during his 98-ball knock but he was lucky on 10 as pacer Umesh Yadav's well-directed short-ball travelled to the second slip after kissing his bat but Shikhar Dhawan failed to hold on to the catch.