Revenge will be on India’s mind when they take on Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series on Wednesday at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. Having lost the ODI series against the hosts, India will be eager to bounce back and maintain their unbeaten record against Bangladesh in the longest format of the game.
Most importantly, India will aim to clinch much-needed ICC Championship points to keep their hopes of making it to the final of the World Test Championship alive. However, the task will be a bit tricky for the visitors given they have a few injury issues to deal with.
WTC Final push
The upcoming two Tests between India and Bangladesh come under the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, thus the series is crucial for the visitors who finished runners-up in the maiden edition of the WTC last year.
Must Read: How India can reach World Test Championship final
India are currently placed in 4th position in the WTC points table with 52.08 PCT. They are behind Sri Lanka, Australia, and South Africa in the tally and need to win at least five of their remaining six matches to progress to the final.
Hence, India can’t afford to drop any more points especially when their next Test series is against top-ranked Test team Australia. So it goes without saying that the visitors will have to aim for a win in both Tests against the Tigers.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, are currently languishing at the bottom of the WTC points table and are out of the race for the final. They will aim to spoil the party for India.
Injury issues
KL Rahul is leading Team India in the opener of the two-match series with regular captain Rohit Sharma ruled out with a finger injury. The opening batter is expected to return for the second Test in Mirpur from 22 December. Notably, uncapped batter Abhimanyu Easwaran has replaced Rohit in the squad for the first Test.
Also, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja have also been ruled out with Navdeep Saini and Saurabh Kumar replacing the duo respectively.
India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara has been named as KL Rahul’s deputy in the opening match.
Interestingly, the selection committee has also added fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat to India’s squad for the Test series.
Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who was ruled out of the ODI series, has joined the India squad ahead of the Tests and the southpaw’s inclusion will be a massive boost for the team in the batting order.
Will Saurabh Kumar or Jaydev Unadkat get a chance?
Left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat is one of the most successful pacers in Indian domestic cricket having bagged 353 wickets in 96 matches. The 31-year-old even had a record-breaking 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season as he picked 67 wickets to assist Saurashtra to win their maiden Ranji Trophy title.
Notably, Unadkat had to wait for 12 years to return to India squad as he played his last solitary Test match in the year 2010 against South Africa and returned awful figures of 0/101. Hence, it will be interesting to see if the management decides to include the southpaw in the playing XI.
Another surprise selection in India’s squad is of Saurabh Kumar, the 29-year-old left-arm spin bowling all-rounder who hails from Bagphat in Uttar Pradesh.
Interestingly, back in the month of February, Saurabh received his maiden call-up for the Sri Lanka Tests, but due to the presence of seasoned campaigners like Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel already present in the squad, Saurabh didn’t get a game and ended up warming the bench in the two-match series.
However, Saurabh has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit and has 237 wickets and 1776 runs to his credit in just 56 first-class games. Moreover, Saurabh impressed the selectors with his recent superb show while playing for India ‘A’ in an unofficial two-match Test series against Bangladesh ‘A’ in Bangladesh.
Saurabh bagged 15 wickets in two games. First, he accounted for nine wickets in two innings during the first unofficial Test match at Cox’s Bazar, and then he starred in the team’s innings win in Sylhet, scalping six wickets in the second innings.
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It is worth noting that the conditions in Bangladesh assist the slower bowlers due to which India could be tempted to take the field with multiple spin-bowling options in the playing XI and this is where Saurabh Kumar can come into the picture.
But with experienced spinners like R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel already present in the squad, it can be tough for Saurabh to seal the spot in the playing XI.
Can Bangladesh put a horror show in Test cricket behind them?
Bangladesh are in last place in the WTC points table for a reason. They have registered just one win and one draw from their 10 matches. Moreover, the Tigers have also not won a Test at home since February 2020 and have never beaten India anywhere in Tests.
Interestingly, Bangladesh, who were given Test status by ICC in the year 2000, played their first Test match against India in Dhaka, where the visitors won by nine wickets.
To date, Bangladesh are searching for their first win against India in red-ball cricket. So far, both teams have locked horns in 11 Tests, with India winning nine of them, while two of them ended in a draw (both in Bangladesh).
But with momentum at their side after the ODI series win and having the advantage of playing at home conditions, Bangladesh can’t be taken lightly as they will surely aim to upset India and put their chances of making it to the WTC Finals in jeopardy.
Squads for the first Test
India: KL Rahul (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat
Bangladesh: Mahmudul Hasan, Najmul Hossain, Mominul Haque, Yasir Ali, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan (Capt), Liton Das, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Zakir Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Anamul Haque
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