Sachin Tendulkar stood firm as wickets fell at the other end to remain unbeaten on 76, giving India some hope of recovery.
Tendulkar, who gladly accepted an offer of bad light from the umpires 38 minutes before the scheduled close, will resume batting on the second day with Ishant Sharma (one).
Tendulkar, dropped by Imrul Kayes at slip off debutant pacer Shafiul Islam on 16, reached the mark of 13,000 test runs with a mid-wicket boundary off spinner Mahmudullah.
“Bangladesh exploited the conditions quite well. The wicket had a lot of moisture and it took a long while to dry. In fact even if you see there is a lot of moisture now,” Tendulkar told reporters.
“Eventually it is going to be turn out as a good batting track. It will certainly play differently tomorrow and the day after.”
India were comfortably placed at 63-0 at lunch after Bangladesh had opted to bowl first. Dense fog delayed the start by 90 minutes.
Opener Virender Sehwag, leading India in the absence of injured skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was the first batsman to be dismissed in the second over of the post-lunch session.
Tamim Iqbal took a simple catch at short extra cover to end Sehwag’s brisk innings of 52 off 51 balls that included nine boundaries.
Gambhir followed Sehwag in the next over on 23, edging a catch to wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim in a short-pitched, rising delivery off Shahadat.
SCOREBOARD
India innings
G. Gambhir c Rahim b Shahadat 23
V. Sehwag c Tamim b Shakib 52
R. Dravid b Shahadat 4
S. Tendulkar not out 76
V. Laxman st Rahim b Shakib 7
Y. Singh c Rubel b Shakib 12
D. Karthik c Raqibul b Shahadat 0
A. Mishra lbw b Shahadat 14
Z. Khan c Raqibul b Shakib 11
I. Sharma not out 1
Extras (b-1 lb-6 w-1 nb-5) 13
Total (eight wickets, 63 overs) 213
To bat: S. Sreesanth
Fall of wickets: 1-79 2-79 3-85 4-107 5-149 6-150 7-182 8-209
Bowling: Shafiul 9-1-41-0, Shahadat 14-1-51-4 (w-1 nb-2), Rubel 10-0-40-0 (nb-3), Shakib 26-9-52-4, Mahmudullah 3-0-17-0, Ashraful 1-0-5-0
