IND vs BAN: Match Preview- 1st Test

IND vs BAN: Match Preview- 1st Test. After a rare ODI series win against India, Bangladesh is all geared up to take the Test challenge in the 2 Tests series.

The first Test will be played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram, between 14-18 December from 9:30 am onwards. The visitors will look forward to keeping their unbeaten record against Bangladesh in the Tests. After 11 matches between the sides in the longest format, the visitors are yet to lose a Test match against Bangladesh. The visitors have won 9 Tests and drawn 2 against Bangladesh.

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Both teams will be playing the longest format against each other after a gap of 3 years. The last time both teams played a day and night Test was at Eden Gardens in 2019.

The Virat Kohli-led hosts won the Test by an innings and 46 runs. Batting first, Bangladesh were restricted to 106 after a five-for from Ishant Sharma. Virat Kohli’s 136 led India to declare the innings on 347 for the loss of 9 wickets. Umesh Yadav took 5 wickets in the second innings to register an easy victory for India.

India are currently placed fourth in the ICC Test Championship points table, with 6 wins, 4 losses, and 2 draws. They must win 5 of their last 6 Tests to qualify for the Final. On the other hand, Bangladesh are at the bottom of the table with just 1 win in 10 Tests of this cycle. The hosts have lost 4 of their last 5 Tests and have drawn one.

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India have played 2 Tests here, and they have won 1 match and drew the next. Bangladesh have played 22 Tests at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and they have won just 2 matches while losing 13 matches. The remaining 7 matches ended in a draw.

IND vs BAN: Match Preview- 1st Test

22 years since playing their first Test, Bangladesh are finding it difficult to adjust to the longest format of cricket. This time, the situation worsened with their leading run scorer Tamim Iqbal being ruled out for the first Test. Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Najmul Hossain Shanto will open the innings. The pair have a collective average of 22 in the last 10 Tests. This can be an advantage for the visitors to put early pressure on the hosts.

In the middle order, Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim are Bangladesh’s best bets against India. Litton Das is their leading run-scorer of the ICC Test Championship with 883 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 49.06. He has scored 3 centuries and 5 half-centuries in the last 18 innings. Mushfiqur Rahim has a better understanding of playing against India. The wicket-keeper has 518 runs in Tests against India at an average of 51.80 with 2 centuries and 2 half centuries.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan will lead the bowling attack with spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Taijul Islam and pacers Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, and Ebadot Hossain. Taijul Islam is leading the bowling charts for Bangladesh with 24 wickets in 5 Tests of the Championship cycle at an economy of 2.75.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who finished as the Man of the Series in the preceding ODI series, has 22 Test wickets at an economy of 2.70. If he continues his form in this format, India will have difficulty keeping its record alive.

Bangladesh have added Zakir Hasan to the 15-member squad. The T20 specialist has more than 4000 runs in 106 innings since making his debut in the first class. He has scored 13 centuries and 14 half-centuries at an average of 41.27. He can get a chance to debut in the 1st or 2nd Test.

Bangladesh Predicted Playing XI:

Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Anamul Haque, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Nurul Hasan (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam

India last played a Test in the month of July against England (the 5th rescheduled Test). It will be a challenge for skipper KL Rahul to adjust his team to the 5-day format in the absence of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami. He will open the innings with Shubman Gill. Both openers are inexperienced having not played against Bangladesh.

While KL Rahul has played just 2 Tests this year, Shubman Gill has been part of just one. All eyes will be glued to vice-captain Cheteshwar Pujara, who had a mind-blowing county stint this year for Sussex. Cheteshwar Pujara scored 1094 runs in 8 matches at an average of 109.40 with 3 double hundreds and 2 hundred.

Virat Kohli will be eager to take the guard in the middle to keep his form running. After finishing as the Asia Cup’s second leading run-scorer, T20 World Cup’s leading run scorer, Virat Kohli scored a century in the last ODI against Bangladesh. Virat Kohli averages above 78 against Bangladesh and has 2 centuries in the 5 innings.

Surprisingly, his last century of this format came against Bangladesh three years ago. Shreyas Iyer will likely play with Rishabh Pant in the middle order. The latter has been the visitors leading run scorer of this ICC Test Championship 2021-23 cycle. Rishabh Pant has 636 runs in 8 Tests at an average of 45.43.

India will use Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur as pacers. Though the trio hasn’t played much together, they will still pose a threat to the weak Bangladeshi side. Shardul Thakur has 11 wickets in 3 Tests played this year, including a career-best of 7 for 61. Umesh Yadav had taken 8 wickets in the last test played against Bangladesh.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel will be added as the spinners. Ravichandran Ashwin will have a huge responsibility on his shoulder in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami – India’s leading wicket-takers of the ICC WTC besides injured spinner Ravindra Jadeja. Team India would have to make is to choose between Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur.

Navdeep Saini, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Jaydev Unadkat, and Saurabh Kumar have been added to the visitors Test squad for the Bangladesh series, the BCCI confirmed on Sunday (December 11).

The visitors made a roaring comeback in the third and final ODI by winning the match by 227 runs after losing the first two ODIs narrowly by 1 wicket and 5 runs respectively. Ishan Kishan’s maiden double ton and Virat Kohli’s 44th ODI ton designed a big win for the visitors. Ishan Kishan became the first cricketer ever to convert his maiden century into a double hundred.

India Predicted Playing XI:

KL Rahul (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav.

Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah