Sarfaraz : The first Test between a reinvigorated and laid-back Team India and a much-improved Bangladesh will start on Thursday, September 19, 2024, in Chennai. This will be an intriguing Test series to start the new season.
India, which has had a reliable team in the Test arena for the previous few years, cannot afford to take on Bangladesh, who last month which made history last month, Pakistan 2-0 in their own country.
To get his charges into game mode ahead of the series, new head coach Gautam Gambhir held a training camp in Chennai for several older Indian players who had not played much cricket before. This comes before the two series of tests.
The preparations have been carefully thought out. India has brought tall net bowlers to offset Bangladesh’s lanky pacers and spinners.
Teenage batsmen Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and K L Rahul received much-needed match-like batting practice in the Duleep Trophy.
Senior players Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli were permitted to miss the Duleep Trophy. Still, they have enough experience to handle the absence of match practice before the series.
With Jaiswal and Rohit creating a formidable opening combination, Gill seeming quite at ease at No 3, and Kohli following, Indian batting is well-established.
Nine months after missing the England Tests to give birth to his second kid, Kohli plays his first Test. He will be eager to get back among the runs to prepare himself for the upcoming New Zealand series and the crucial trip to Australia later this year.
With their opposing batting approaches, Sarfaraz Khan and K L Rahul each bring something unique to the team, so Gambhir and Rohit will have a fascinating choice when selecting a No. 5 player.
Mumbai’s Sarfaraz, with his aggressive style, shone in the England series, but Rahul, with his safety-first mentality, is very reliable and gives a lot of stability to the middle order.
Rahul suffered a quadriceps injury that kept him out of the remainder of the series despite making a brilliant 86 during the first Test match against England in Hyderabad in January. Sarfaraz, who replaced him, took full advantage of the chance, scoring 200 runs at a strike rate of 79 in three games, including fifty in his first two innings in the Test.
India’s batting lineup is more potent now that Rishabh Pant, who was missing over two years, is back in the Test squad to offer the spark at number six. He erased all worries with some exquisite diving catches with the gloves in the Duleep Trophy and a blistering fifty to guarantee his spot in the team ahead of Dhruv Jurel. Throughout the England series, Jurel was dependable in the gloves and produced excellent knocks under duress.
With two spin all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who have scored multiple hundreds in Test cricket, India’s batting lineup is intimidatingly long.
The bowling lineup also appears quite potent, with Jasprit Bumrah returning after a well-earned extended absence. Mohammed Siraj can bowl extended stints when necessary and is a skilled operator with new and old balls.
Suppose India feels that the reverse could become a problem later on. In that case, they can choose a tremendous third seamer because they have left-armer Yash Dayal and batsman Akash Deep in the squad. On a Chennai pitch known to slow down and help the spinners, they will probably lean more in favour of a third spinner. It can force the team management to select between Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.
In the past few months, Kuldeep—a true wicket-taker in Indian conditions—seems to have been the chosen option to partner with Ashwin and Jadeja as the third spinner. During the England series, he took full advantage of the unique opportunity to play four Tests in a row for the first time in his career, taking 19 wickets at an average of 20.
Axar performed admirably in the Australia series last year, taking 22 wickets from four Tests; however, he only played two Tests in the England series, taking five wickets, though he did contribute with the bat. In addition to extending the batting to No. 9, Axar’s selection demonstrated his middle-order versatility when, in the Vizag Test, he produced a solid knock at No. 6 against England while Jadeja was out.
In general, India must decide between Sarfaraz and Rahul for the batting position and Kuldeep and Axar for the bowling position.
India will also spend much time strategizing how to counter a motivated Bangladesh, which is confident following its incredible series victory in Pakistan.
It’ll be good for India to remember that in the December 2022 second Test in Mirpur, Bangladesh came dangerously close to defeating them.
Bangladesh, needing to win by chasing 145, had the visitors on 7/74 until Ashwin (42) and Shreyas Iyer (29) led them home with a continuous partnership of 71 runs for the eighth wicket, sealing the series 2-0.
Bangladesh showed their tenacity in Pakistan, emerging victorious from nearly hopeless circumstances in both Test matches.
In Pakistan, the fast bowling tandem of Hasan Mahmud and Nihad Rana was outstanding, with 14 wickets between them in the two-Test series. With his ability to bowl regularly at 150 mph, the youthful Rana will be someone to watch. He presents a serious threat to India’s batting lineup.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan, two all-round players, are very balanced in the lineup because of their abilities with the bat and the ball.
Following Pakistan, the hitters from Bangladesh have also become more self-assured.
In the second Test, Litton Das struck one of the most spectacular centuries in history to rescue Bangladesh, who had fallen to 26/6 in their second innings. The seasoned Mushfiqur Rahim—who enjoys playing against India—also struck a century in Pakistan.
The Chennai pitch has historically been favourable to spin. Spinners dominated the final Test match between India and England at this location in 2021, taking 32 wickets.
England’s slow bowlers took 15 wickets overall. In contrast, the Indian spin trio of Ashwin, Kuldeep, and Axar split 17 wickets between them.
India won 15 of the 34 Test matches at the M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, lost seven, and was drawn eleven. The historic tie between India and Australia in 1986 resulted from a Test match.
Rohit Sharma (captain), Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, K L Rahul/Sarfaraz Khan, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper) are the likely members of the playing XI.