India’s two-match Test series against Bangladesh gets underway in Chennai tomorrow and the Rohit Sharma-led side will be aiming nothing less than a series sweep.
Should India manage to beat Bangladesh 2-0, they will claim the top spot ion the points tally of the ICC World Test Championship.
India have won the last five Test matches against their Asian rivals but the upcoming series might not be a cake walk for the hosts. Bangladesh have arrived in India on the back of a historic 2-0 Test series victory over Pakistan.
The series is also the first red-ball assignment for India coach Gautam Gambhir. The 42-year-old took over the reigns as the coach of the team from Rahul Dravid after the successful campaign in ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Gambhir sounded confident ahead of the match.
“I have been big believer that we don’t fear anyone but we respect everyone,” India head coach Gautam Gambhir told reporters on Wednesday.
“I congratulate them for what they did in Pakistan but this is a new series and they are a quality side and we want to play good cricket.”
The Bangladesh series will mark the start of a long season for India where the team will predominantly play Test cricket. In the subsequent months India are also scheduled to play a three-match home Test series against New Zealand followed by a five-match away series against Australia.
The team will be thrilled to see the return of Rishabh Pant. The wicketkeeper batsman has made a gradual return to cricket after a horrible crash in December 2022. Since recovering from the crash Pant first made a return in the IPL, then featured in India’s T20 World Cup winning squad and is now set to make a comeback in Test cricket.
Pant will have competition from fellow wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, who impressed both behind and in front of the stumps in the home series against England earlier this yea. However, Pant’s place in India’s starting XI is guaranteed.
“Jurel is a phenomenal player but when Pant is coming in, sometimes people have to wait,” Gambhir said.
Mohammed Shami will miss the series as he recovers from an ankle surgery but Bangladesh batters will still have to deal with the cunning and craft of India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and the lively pace of Mohammed Siraj.
The series will literally be a different ball game altogether for Shanto and his men.
Used to playing with the Kookaburra ball, they will have to adjust to the SG variety with pronounced seam in India.
Gambhir’s Bangladesh counterpart Chandika Hathurusinghe was confident his team would maintain their standard against India.
“It certainly gives us a lot of confidence coming into this series,” Sri Lankan Hathurusinghe said ahead of the match referring to their victory in Pakistan.
“Not because of the outcome of the series but the way we played that series… give us a lot of belief for this series.”
India vs Bangladesh 2024, Test series:
- Sep 19-23: First Test, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai; 9:30 am IST/04:00 am GMT/09:30 am Local
- Sep 27-Oct 01: Second Test, Green Park, Kanpur; 9:30 am IST/04:00 am GMT/09:30 am Local
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sarfaraz Khan, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Akash Deep
Bangladesh: Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wk), Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Khaled Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana
