The Indians in a jovial mood during practice in Chittagong, on Saturday, the eve of the first Test against Bangladesh. (Top) Openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag get ready for nets, while Sachin Tendulkar also seems to be having a good time. (AP)

Chittagong: The captain who took India to the No.1 position in Test cricket won’t be leading in the first match as the numero uno team.

Why?

Because Mahendra Singh Dhoni has again been laid low by back spasms and is out of the opening Test of the two-match series, against Bangladesh, beginning here on Sunday.

Dhoni just didn’t feel right after Saturday morning’s optional nets and, so, the captaincy will rest with Virender Sehwag.

With so much of cricket, and in all forms, expect others to also have one problem or the other before the season ends.

Sehwag, by the way, appears to have become public enemy No.1 after calling Bangladesh an “ordinary side,” lacking the firepower to take 20 Indian wickets and, thereby, incapable of winning.

The stand-in captain’s salvo outraged many, but the more realistic Bangladeshis accepted that Sehwag had been pretty spot-on, only he ought to have somewhat sweetened the bitter pill.

But, then, Sehwag isn’t one much concerned with niceties. Both on and off the field.

Nor does he intend joining the diplomatic corps.

Not to be left behind, the Bangladesh captain, Shakib-al Hasan, countered by saying that while Sehwag was entitled to his opinion, he felt South Africa and Australia were the “top teams,” not India.

“Much better,” is how he put it, just to rub it in.

It’s to be seen whether there’s any drama on the park during the contest for the Idea Cup, but there certainly has been much hungama in the lead up.

From a marketing perspective, it couldn’t have got better.

With both Sehwag, who’d addressed the media without revealing anything about Dhoni’s fitness, and Shakib holding nothing back, there’s much at stake for them personally, too.

Now, they’d better walk the talk.

The war of words notwithstanding, Shakib made the point that his side would actually be taking it “session by session” and “day by day.”

Meanwhile, the team management has excluded Pragyan Ojha, who played in the last two Tests (against Sri Lanka), from the XII and kept Amit Mishra instead.

“Ojha was very good in the Tests that he played in (Kanpur, Mumbai), but Mishra is the one currently bowling well... Form has to be a key factor,” a well-placed source told The Telegraph.

Left-armer Ojha had been dropped for the tri-series, while leggie Mishra made a comeback.

Depending on how the Z.A. Chowdhury Stadium wicket looks in the morning, either Mishra or quick Ishant Sharma will make the XI.

A 3-1 attack, therefore, is a possibility.

Given Chittagong’s location, it’s breezy through the day. Besides, one can expect a fair amount of moisture at the start. Later, though, the batsmen may have a real ball.

“I hope we lose the toss... For, right now, we don’t know what to do,” quipped the Bangladesh coach, Jamie Siddons.

Knowing Sehwag, he’d almost surely be looking to call correctly and straightaway taking guard.

TEAMS

INDIA: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Amit Mishra/Ishant Sharma.

BANGLADESH (likely): Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes/Junaid Siddiqui, Roqibul Hassan, Mohammed Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib-al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Enamul Haque (Jr), Rubel Hossain, Shahdat Hossain.

Umpires: Billy Bowden, Marais Erasmus; TV: Enamul Haque.

Match Referee: Andy Pycroft.

Match starts: 9 am (IST).