Onus is on batsmen: Zaheer

“It was a good bowling performance from our part. Now, the first and second sessions on the morrow will be very important. We will have to score some runs maintaining today’s good run rate, and then hope that we get two full day’s play as there is a lot of cricket left to play in this Test,” Zaheer, who took three wickets, said.

The left-arm paceman also said the pitch had eased out considerably in the afternoon. “There was nothing much in the wicket in the afternoon. But the Bangladesh batsmen were going for their shots, so it was up to us to pitch the ball in the right areas and we are happy we managed to do that today,” he said.

The senior pacer also expressed satisfaction over the way his younger colleagues Ishant Sharma and S Sreesanth bowled. “Ishant bowled very well today and hope he has gained some confidence through this match. Sreesanth also bowled well. Initially, he struggled a bit for rhythm, but once he got the rhythm, he was a different bowler,” Zaheer said.

Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyadh, who scored a fifty, said it was important for his team to restrict India to a manageable total in the second innings. “We have to restrict them to 270-280, so that we can attempt a chase. I guess even 300 is a chaseable total on this pitch,” he said.

On the injured Dhoni and Harbhajan, team manager Arshad Ayud said, "Both Harbhajan and Dhoni are improving. If you see, Dhoni came out to bat and Harbhajan is 80-85 per cent fit. In a day's time both of them should regain full fitness."