Bangladesh vs India 2015, Only Test: Virat Kohli's India look for change in Test fortunes

Virat Kohli will look to assert dominance over Bangladesh

Match facts

Date: June 10-14, 2015

Time: 1000 local (09:30 IST)

Venue: Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, Fatullah

Overview

With the memories of an intriguing battle in the quarter-final of the World Cup still alive, India and Bangladesh will square off in a one-off Test beginning in Fatullah on Wednesday.

The Test match marks the beginning of a new era in Indian cricket with Virat Kohli settling in as the skipper of the Test team. After a tough beginning in Australia, Kohli has a comparatively easier job at hand in a low-key Test series against Bangladesh.

India are in no mood to take Bangladesh lightly and have named a full-strength squad for the tour. Having been annihilated in their previous three Test series abroad, India will be delighted to play a Test match in the subcontinent after almost a year and a half. With Virat Kohli already laying out the team’s blueprint for success in Test cricket, the captain has made it clear that India’s single-minded focus will be on “winning the matches”.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, have proved that they are the “new stars” in world cricket after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup and whitewashing Pakistan 3-0 in an ODI series at home recently. They will hope to carry the winning momentum and have the personnel & ammunition to challenge India.

Key players

It was not long ago that Cheteshwar Pujara was being touted as the “new wall” of Indian cricket. The batsman had a torrid time in 2014 with only two half-centuries in ten games. After going unsold in IPL 2015 auction, Pujara made the best use of this opportunity to fine-tune his batting technique by playing county cricket in England.

The one-off Test against Bangladesh will be crucial for Pujara and could very well decide his fate for the rest of the season. The batsman will be hungry for runs and will look for a big score in familiar batting conditions.

Mominul Haque’s short career as a Test batsman has been nothing short of spectacular. The batsman boasts of a 50-plus score in almost every Test match he has played for Bangladesh.

His sound batting technique coupled with a cool temperament make him a difficult batsman to dismiss, especially on the low & slow pitch in Fatullah. The southpaw will relish the prospects of scoring heavily against one of the top bowling attacks and strengthen his credentials as Bangladesh’s best Test batsman.

Team news

KL Rahul’s absence from the Bangladesh tour due to illness gives Shikhar Dhawan a shot at a comeback after being dropped in India’s last Test match at Sydney. With five of the seven batsmen in Bangladesh’s line-up being left-handers, India will look to play two off-spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh.

Umesh Yadav will be India’s first choice fast bowler, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar will look to carry his stellar IPL form into Test cricket.

India (probable): Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav.

Regular wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim has still not recovered after spraining his ring finger against Pakistan and is expected to play only as a specialist batsman. Litton Das has been seen practising his wicket-keeping skills during training and is likely to keep wickets against India.

Bangladesh’s bowling has been bolstered by the return of Rubel Hossain, who is expected to shoulder much of the fast bowling load along with Mohammad Shahid. The young leg-spinner Jubair Hossain might also get a look-in in place of the struggling Shuvagata Hom.

The unavailability of World Cup hero Mahmudullah due to injury has increased the responsibility on the experienced trio of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim.

Bangladesh (probable): Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das (wk), Jubair Hossain, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Shahid.

Pitch and Conditions

According to pitch curator Shafiul Alam Belal, the wicket will be a batting paradise but will assist spinners as the Test match progresses. The schedule of this tour clashes with the onset of monsoon and weather is expected to play spoilsport at least for some part of the match.

Bangladesh’s Mominul reaffirmed the curator’s view, saying that the pitch will be on the slower side.

"I think the wicket will be on the slower side. I will see on Wednesday how the wicket behaves. I don't get wickets much. I try to play in this way," he said.

Conclusion

Despite Bangladesh having made tremendous strides in the recent past, the Test match is only India’s to lose. However, with only one Test in the offering, a couple of brilliant sessions from Bangladesh might prove enough to decide the series.