Published: Feb 09, 2017, 08:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 09, 2017, 04:29 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to the live cricket blog and updates of the one-off Test between India and Bangladesh at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. I am Kaustubh S. Mayekar and will bring you the live coverage of this Test. This is a historic match, as Bangladesh will play their first ever Test on Indian soil. Surprisingly, it was against India they made their Test debut, in Dhaka, in the year 2000. The Virat Kohli-led Indian unit are currently the No. 1 side in ICC Test Rankings, while Bangladesh are stuttering at the ninth spot. However, the neighbours, who were tagged ‘minnows’ not till long back, have a formidable spin attack that can go on to surprise the Indians. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: INDIA vs BANGLADESH, ONE-OFF TEST
Bangladesh will hurt India, only if the latter choose to be complacent. Otherwise, India are a side, who have all the bases covered and have played brilliantly as a collective unit in the last year and half. India are a strong unit, so much so that Karun Nair, who became India’s second triple-centurion in the side’s final Test at Chennai, may make way for the more experienced Ajinkya Rahane. “One game does not overshadow two years of hard work from another player,” Kohli made it clear on the Test’s eve. Rahane has been India’s best batsman overseas since his debut in 2013.
Mushfiqur Rahim is back at helm, as Bangladesh captain was out of the final Test in Christchurch due to an injury. However, the injury worries continue to hurt them. With ace pacer Mustafizur Rahman rested, Bangladesh also lost their regular opener Imrul Kayes due to an injury.
Both the sides, however, possess excellent all-rounders. India’s charge is led by Ravichandran Ashwin, along with Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav in their ranks. Meanwhile, Bangladesh have their greatest cricketer Shakib Al Hasan. They also have Mahmudullah and the young sensation Mehedi Hasan in their armoury.
The track is hard and is expected to spin as the game progresses, meaning this is a typical Indian track. India start favourites, but one thing is for sure that Bangladesh’s bowling will throw India a tougher challenge than what English and New Zealand bowlers did earlier this season.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (c & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Mosaddek Hossain, Liton Das, Mominul Haque, Shafiul Islam.
