India vs Bangladesh one-off Test match pushed to February 9

What’s the story?

The one-off match between India and Bangladesh has been pushed by one day and will now be played from February 9 to February 13 at the Hyderabad Cricket Association.

"We have received the notification from BCCI. The game will start on Thursday instead of Wednesday, February 8," John Manoj, Hyderabad Cricket Association secretary, was as quoted by the PTI.

In case you didn’t know...

Bangladesh are scheduled to play a one-off Test match in India after the ongoing series against England. This would the first time any Bangladesh side will tour India in their cricketing history.

India would then go on to play a 4-match Test series against Australia.

The heart of the matter

The organisers have shifted the match by one day as they expect a better turnout over the weekend. The Mushfiqur Rahim-led Bangladesh side are currently involved in a series in New Zealand and have made a great fist of things in the Test match.

Shakib-al-Hasan scored record-breaking 217 and put on a mammoth partnership of 359 runs with Mushfiqur Rahim, which is the highest partnership for any wicket for Bangladesh.

India, on the other hand, have been dominant at home and have smashed New Zealand and England in the previous Test series, and look almost invincible in home conditions.

However, the series against Bangladesh promises to be a close contest as Bangladesh too trounced England in a Test match, and are fairly comfortable in sub-continent conditions.

Earlier, the Hyderabad Cricket Association issued a statement stating that they could not host the series owing to lack of funds after the Lodha Committee clampdown on the BCCI.

However, HCA secretary K John Manoj rubbished all these reports and said that the HCA are very hosting the Test match, and that they have also issued a tender notice for in stadia advertisement, and are also signing a deal with TCM.

What next?

With both the HCA and the BCCI sounding optimistic, the aforementioned series should not have any further roadblocks, and Bangladesh could well play their first-ever Test match in India.

Sportskeeda’s Take

The BCCI and the Supreme Court have been at loggerheads for quite some time now, and with the Apex Court sacking the top board officials, the haze has finally cleared as far as cricket establishment is concerned in India.

Also, with the Australian series scheduled after the Bangladesh series, it could provide the Indian players to give a good account of themselves.