Kanpur: A supremely dominant India will be eyeing a record-extending 18th Test series win at home when they take on a battered Bangladesh in the second game but the larger focus will be on two batters who will be gunning for massive knocks with bigger challenges beckoning in a bumper season ahead.
India pretty much checked most boxes when they decimated Bangladesh by 280 runs in Chennai in the opening Test. Spin kings R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were once again the stars of the show by stitching together a game-saving 199-run stand for the seventh wicket in the first innings before running through the visitors’ batting line-up by sharing nine wickets in the second innings.
Rishabh Pant announced his return to Test cricket — the format he loves the most — with a blazing century while current No. 3 fulcrum Shubman Gill warmed up with an equally gorgeous ton that showed his new-found confidence in tackling spin.
Pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and new kid on the block Akash Deep too held the end of their bargain on a highly receptive red-soil pitch as the overall pedigree of India proved too much for Bangladesh despite the Tigers arriving here high on confidence following a historic away 2-0 win over Pakistan.
Masked in India’s massive win were the average returns of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul and the duo will be itching to turn things around at the Green Park Stadium — weather permitting — for a various reasons.
Kohli, who took a long personal break during the five-match England series earlier this year for the first time in his illustrious career, has been stuck in a mini rut since scoring a crucial 76 in the final of a triumphant T20 World Cup. In the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka prior to this rubber, like other members of the team, he too struggled against spin and managed scores of just 24, 14 and 20.
In the Chennai Test, he got for 6 while flashing outside the off-stump to pacer Hasan Mahmud in the first innings and in the second, he fell leg-before to spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Shockingly, he didn’t choose to review it despite getting an inside edge.
The 35-year-old Kohli undoubtedly is the biggest box attraction in this Indian team and the most vital component of a transitioning batting line-up. With New Zealand coming for three Tests and India flying out to Australia for five games thereafter, Kohli will be hoping to hit the strides sooner rather than later.
Rahul is one of the enigmatic figures in this team. Blessed with oodles of talent and backed by several regimes, the 32-year-old is yet to attain his full potential. He has played some fantastic knocks in the most hostile of conditions but sadly has more flops than hits to average an ordinary 34.12 in 51 Tests in a decade-long career.
He disappointed in the first innings, falling for 16 after getting a good start, before faring better in the second, scoring an unbeaten 22 when skipper Rohit called for declaration. A lot of youngsters are breathing down Rahul’s neck, none more so than big-hitting Sarfaraz Khan, and although his position in the team is not under any immediate threat, he’ll do himself world of good if he can score a big one here.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are mired neck deep in problems. Apart from the horror show in Chennai where their batting fell apart against a high-quality Indian attack, they were hit by the explosive news that this could possibly be Shakib Al Hasan’s farewell game if the BCB doesn't guarantee a safe entry and exit for the veteran.
The controversial Shakib, who is facing criminal charges back home following the downfall of the Awami League, is loved and loathed in equal measure but there’s no denying the 37-year-old is an emotion for Bangladeshi cricket. How Bangladesh cope with all the ruckus against a thoroughly professional Indian team, who have lost just a mere 4 Test matches at home since the start of 2013, remains to be seen.
Squad:
India (likely XI): Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav/ Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj/ Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah.
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Jaker Ali, Litton Das (wk), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Momimul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Nayeem Hasan, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed.
Pitch talk:
Green Park is known for its slow and low nature and if locals are to believed, it’s expected to be the same. It’s a black soil pitch that should be good for batting the first two days with spinners expected to come into the action over the next three. Mostly teams will play three spinners in place of the extra pacer they fielded in Chennai. Weather It rained on the eve of the match and the forecast for the match is 95 percent rain on Friday and Saturday and 60 percent on Sunday, which is not a welcome news considering the quality of drainage system in a venue that’s stuck in a time warp. The fourth and fifth days are expected to see the witness hot weather.