Mirpur: 
After a year of hype and expectation, it was destined that Sachin Tendulkar would get his hundredth international century against and in the country where he had equalled Sunil Gavaskar's then-record 34 Test centuries in 2004 on way to his highest Test score. It wasn't one of Tendulkar's better hundreds and will be remembered only for being the one that brought up the unprecedented landmark. In fact, it was his second-slowest innings of 100-plus in ODIs.
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India ended up on 289 for 5, an underwhelming outcome considering their power-packed batting line-up had had a platform of 173 for 1 in the 36th over.
Bangladesh's attack was persevering but limited. Tendulkar duly milked them to finally go past a landmark that hardly anyone knew existed before he got close to it, but put tremendous pressure on the player himself in a frenzied build-up that lasted a year.
Tendulkar had motored to 80 off 102 deliveries but took another 36 before he took his hundredth run, off Shakib Al Hasan. The celebration after the achievement was understated, with Tendulkar gazing at his bat for some time before looking up towards the sky.
The monkey off his back, he belatedly took charge, hitting consecutive boundaries off Shahadat Hossain before a slog ended up in the keeper's hands. Tendulkar's departure came immediately after Suresh Raina's brisk innings had ended after having kept India going amid his senior partner's quest for the century. Raina hit 51 off 38, his knock evidence of his stroke-making abilities as also of his inability to tackle the short delivery effectively.
Raina built on a 147-run second-wicket partnership between Tendulkar and Kohli, who looked set to become the first Indian batsman to score three consecutive ODI hundreds until he played on for a breezy 66.
The hosts should have had Kohli first ball in the sixth over, when Shafiul Islam struck him on the back leg in front of middle stump with an incoming delivery, but umpire Paul Reiffel remained unmoved. Kohli's form took over after that, and with Tendulkar batting as safely as he does during some of his long Test innings, India motored along without giving Bangladesh half a chance more.
Bangladesh had themselves to blame for allowing Tendulkar to settle with a generous sprinkling of wide deliveries from their fast bowlers. His first four scoring shots were all boundaries, as he cashed in on width to drive and punch through the off side.
Shafiul did have Gautam Gambhir playing on early off a forcing flat-footed drive, but Kohli did not take long to get going after his reprieve. The field hardly moved as he flicked and cover-drove for fours in consecutive overs.
Spin was expected to be a major factor on a dry-looking pitch but Tendulkar and Kohli negotiated Bangladesh's slow army without any problems. The scoring rate did take a slight beating as singles dominated but Tendulkar soon found the freedom to slog-sweep Shakib Al Hasan over wide long-on. With his feet moving precisely now, he made room to cart Shakib inside-out over extra cover to reach his first international fifty in 13 innings.
As Kohli pummelled Nasir Hossain past extra cover, Bangladesh would surely have had memories of the mammoth chase that India set them during their last meeting, on this ground in the opening game of the 2011 World Cup.
But India were to end up well short of the 370 they scored in that game, Tendulkar taking his time amid some nerves as he passed 80. After having contemptuously worked his way to another fifty, Kohli inside-edged Abdur Razzak on to his stumps.
Raina arrived and soon, a three-ball passage summed up his game. He swivelled, hopped and awkwardly pulled a short Shahadat delivery to fine leg, cracked the next delivery, a full one, between extra cover and mid-off for four, and then again swivelled awkwardly and missed a pull to another short ball. His slog-sweeps and lofted shots over extra cover kept the runs coming, though, but Tendulkar was clearly feeling the pressure at the other end.
He played out a maiden to Mashrafe Mortaza on 83, and on several occasions, took off for non-existent singles before being sent back. The century arrived in the 44th over, and Tendulkar's relief was evident.
With the innings in need of a final burst, MS Dhoni slammed 16 off the 50th over to get India to a score that should still prove difficult for Bangladesh on a slow pitch.
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