After India pulled off a 11-run win over Bangladesh in Chittagong on Thursday, Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said the home team was "never really in the game" although the narrow margin of victory suggested a close match.

"We kept picking wickets at regular intervals, they were never really in the game," said Ganguly at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Bangladesh were brought tantalisingly close to the target through an enterprising 39-ball 50 by wicketkeeper-batsman Khaled Mashud after they were struggling at 160 for seven in the 42nd over.

"We gave away some runs in the end and that made it look close," Ganguly said.

On the new faces who were given a look-in in today's match, he said they played well in patches and would improve with more exposure.

"It was the first game for them, they did well in patches and will improve with time," he said adding every new player would get a chance to play at least two games in the three-match series.

Ganguly also said the wicket was a little tricky to bat on and the players did well to take the score to 245 in the end.

Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar said giving away too many runs in the last three overs proved crucial for his side.

"We gave away too many runs in the last three overs but it was good to see the boys work hard out in the middle," he said.

"We will try to put up the same fight that we showed towards the end of the match today in the remaining two games," he said.

Man-of-the-match Mohammad Kaif said the wicket was "double-paced" and difficult to bat early on but he was happy that he hung in to score 80.

"Some balls kept low and some rose high but if you stayed for some time and got your eye in, it was easier to bat," said the batsman adding that he was told to keep things simple and not to panic.