India v Bangladesh, One-off Test, Hyderabad – Preview
It’s been nearly 17 years in the making, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
As such, it’s a match of unequals when India and Bangladesh face-off in the first Test match between the two teams on Indian soil, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal from Thursday (February 9).
India is No. 1 in the International Cricket Council Test rankings, and Bangladesh is No. 9 in a group of ten.
India hasn’t lost a Test at home since December 2012, when England trumped it. It last lost a Test anywhere in the world way back in August 2015, when Sri Lanka beat it in Galle. India came back to win that series 2-1, and has since won 12 out of the 16 it has played, chiefly in India. In R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, it has the top two bowlers in the world. The batting line-up is an all-star affair, headlined by Virat Kohli. As for the venue, the first Test held here, in November 2010 against New Zealand, ended in a draw, but since then India has won by an innings and 115 runs against New Zealand in August 2012 and by an innings and 135 runs against Australia in March 2013.
All of which adds up to an air of invincibility about the Indian team. It isn’t, of course. But it’s true that getting the better of India in India at the moment will take some doing.
India has chugged along untroubled. Important players have been injured and replacements have come in and done even better – Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair being a case in point. Pacemen have charged in and, on unresponsive pitches, picked up wickets that have changed the complexion of games. And when the batsmen haven’t scored enough runs, the non-batsmen have. It’s almost like the perfect situation and one that, given the average age of the team, suggests a future as excellent as the present.
Up against it is Bangladesh, which finally beat a team other than West Indies or Zimbabwe in a Test match only the other day – England. On a pitch tailor-made for the Bangladesh spin attack in Mirpur. Since then, it has gone to New Zealand and keeled over after declaring on 595 for 8 in the first Test and then, despite conceding a lead of just 65 runs after the first-innings exchanges in the second, still lost by nine wickets. Simply put, it hasn’t been able to play through a Test match, stay the course for long enough.
On the face of it, then, Bangladesh has no chance and is in Hyderabad only to make Kohli and the Indian team look even better.
The truth, though, is somewhat different.
Bangladesh is a team on the rise. After humble beginnings and a long period of disappointment, over the past couple of years it has emerged as a strong 50-over team and a capable 20-over team. Coming to Test cricket, there isn’t much to write home about bar that England win, whatever the conditions. And few teams from the subcontinent have been as impressive, even in defeat, as Bangladesh was when it travelled across to New Zealand last month. In the current decade, in fact, Pakistan is the only team from this part of the world to win a Test there – in January 2011 in Hamilton. Before that, it was in April 2009, when India won, also in Hamilton.
In Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar, Bangladesh has a decent opening combination. With Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim in the middle order, there is a fair bit of weight. Sabbir Rahman, the likely No. 7, has three half-centuries batting with the tail in his four Tests so far. As for the bowling, Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi have pace and Mehedi Hasan, the star of the England Test win, and Taijul Islam provide decent spin options.
It isn’t quite the same as a batting line-up headlined by Kohli and Pujara and a bowling attack led by Ashwin – few units are at the moment.
But that lot gives reason for hope to Bangladesh, which is the one thing that is driving it on this tour.
Against quiet confidence and tremendous ambition, far from misplaced, when it comes to India.
Man for man, form for form, in terms of pedigree or reputation, India is the strong favourite. But stranger things have happened in Test cricket. And even if Bangladesh can take the game deep, there will be a story to go with all the history around this maiden Test between the two teams in India, irrespective of the result.
Teams (from):
India: Virat Kohli (capt), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt, wk), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Subashis Roy, Taijul Islam.
