Mirpur, Mar 15: India would look to continue their recovery from the horror tour of Australia while Sachin Tendulkar would aim to the get the burden of a 100th international ton off his back when the team squares off against Bangladesh in an Asia Cup league match here tomorrow.
The 50-run victory over Sri Lanka was just the kind of start India needed in the continental tournament after being quite literally thrashed during an over-three-month-long tour of Australia.
The team's batsmen, who were hopping about in misery on the pacy tracks Down Under, found comfort in the familiar sub-continental environs and made enough for their bowlers to come through despite leaking runs early on an unhelpful pitch.
But one man, whose woes seem unending is Tendulkar. The 38-year-old right-hander, who has almost every international record under his belt, has been without a hundred for over a year now.
The much-awaited 100th international ton has proved so elusive that it has raised concerns as to whether the stat is hampering Tendulkar's form to an extent and the seasoned cricketer would be desperate to get the monkey off his back.
Tendulkar's determination can be gauged from the fact that he turned up for an optional net session yesterday where only three of India's 15-member squad turned up.
Tendulkar has gone 33 century-less innings, which is just one less than his longest barren spell ever.
Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli have successfully carried their good one-day form from Australia to this tournament as well and both scored their 10th international centuries to make that point against Sri Lanka.
