After a successful series against New Zealand and England, Virat Kohli’s Indian Test team will take on Bangladesh in a one-off Test match in Hyderabad starting on February 9. This match is a perfect opportunity for India to get into their groove going into the all-important four-match Test series against Australia.
The selectors did not take chances by experimenting with the squad as MSK Prasad and co. picked a strong 16-member Indian team to take on the Bangladeshis. It should be noted that Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund makes a comeback into the national team after 6 years.
Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund
Let us take a look at how India will line-up to face their Asian rivals.
Openers
India will be missing the services of Parthiv Patel, who opened the batting on three occasions against England and scored two fifties. In his place, Abhinav Mukund makes a comeback to the Indian team and will be the third opener alongside Murali Vijay and KL Rahul.
Murali Vijay has been India’s most consistent opener in this format in the last few years and is certain to open the batting against Bangladesh. Vijay was out of action for few weeks due to a shoulder injury he sustained in the fifth Test against England and returned to action in the ongoing Inter-Zonal T20 tournament where he is representing Tamil Nadu.
In all likelihood, Vijay will open the batting with KL Rahul as the Karnataka batsman, who scored 199 in the last Test India played, is expected to be in the playing XI ahead of Mukund. Although Rahul is in the form of his life, he is getting criticised for being inconsistent with the bat and he will like to prove the critics wrong by scoring in the one-off Test against Bangladesh and will look to continue the form in the Test series against Australia.
Middle order
Cheteshwar Pujara has been India’s rock in the longer formats and without a doubt, the in-form Saurashtra batsman will get into the Indian playing XI. Following Pujara will be skipper Virat Kohli, who was adjudged the Player of the Series against England. These two are India’s best batsmen in the format and them coming in at number 3 and 4 will give the team an extra edge, especially when the openers are out early.
After nursing a thigh injury, Wriddhiman Saha is back in the Test team and will bat at number 6. This leaves two batsmen fighting for the one remaining spot in the middle order. In the last Test match India played, Karun Nair created history by becoming only the second Indian batsman to score a 300 in Tests. But, that knock didn’t help the Karnataka batsman cement his place in the Test team as vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who is coming back from a finger injury is certain to bat at number 5 ahead of Nair.
Spinners
The spin department is one of India’s greatest strengths in Tests as Virat Kohli has the two best spinners in this format to do the talking. 2016 ICC Cricketer of the year and ICC Test cricketer of the year, R Ashwin, along with his spin twin Ravindra Jadeja has hunted down the opposition batsmen in the last few months and the duo will be raring to go in the one-off Test against Bangladesh.
Just like the series against England, Kohli might go with a 6-5 combination that has three spinners and two pacers. In that case, there will be a toss up between the Haryana’s Jayant Yadav and Uttar Pradesh’s Kuldeep Yadav with the latter likely to come out on top given his performance against England.
India are lucky to have three spinners who can contribute heavily with the bat. In the series against England, the contributions of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav with the bat made a huge difference in determining the outcome of the series.
Pacers
India will be without the pace spearhead Mohammad Shami as the Bengal pacer is still recovering from the knee injury that forced him to miss the last two Tests and the subsequent limited-overs leg against England. In his absence, Hardik Pandya is included in the squad and the all-rounder is unlikely to feature in the one-off Test.
Veteran pacer Ishant Sharma is expected to spearhead the pace attack in the absence of Shami. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a brilliant outing in the matches he played against New Zealand and England but knowing Kohli’s affinity towards the bowlers who bowl fast, Umesh Yadav might just get the nod ahead of Bhuvneshwar.
Umesh was the unsung hero in India’s victory over New Zealand and England and the Vidarbha pacer will look to repeat the heroics against Bangladesh and Australia.
India’s possible playing XI to face Bangladesh:
The selectors did a fantastic job by picking a strong side to face Bangladesh keeping the four-match series against Australia in mind. The team management doesn't need to ponder a lot in picking the best possible XI to face Mushfiqur Rahim and co.
If the wicket doesn't have anything for the spinners, it won't be a surprise if all-rounder Hardik Pandya gets the nod ahead of Jayant Yadav in spite of the Haryana all-rounder's great start to his Test career. But, it is highly unlikely that Virat Kohli will go ahead with three fast bowlers at home and Pandya might have to wait for some more time to get his Test cap.
It will be interesting to see whether Kohli decides to include both Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair at the expense of the third spinner, a scenario which looks improbable.
India’s Playing XI:
Murali Vijay
KL Rahul
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli (captain)
Ajinkya Rahane
Wriddhiman Saha (WK)
R Ashwin
Ravindra Jadeja
Jayant Yadav
Ishant Sharma
Umesh Yadav
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