Bangladesh’s brilliant show against Pakistan is a wake-up call for Team India. India will play Bangladesh next for a two-match Test series. Hence, the management might now take some safe decisions to ensure that India wins those matches. On that note, here, we take a look at the list of three ways India might play it safe after Bangladesh’s whitewash over Pakistan.
1) Selecting Jasprit Bumrah
Usually, India does not prefer to have Jasprit Bumrah in home Tests unless it is against top opponents. It is mostly to safeguard him. Even against England, they had him rest for a game. Hence, many would have expected India to rest Bumrah again.
However, seeing Bangladesh’s displays, it is better to have India’s best pacer operate. Therefore, Gautam Gambhir might insist on using the talisman when playing XI against Bangladesh.
2) A long batting order
Having a long batting order is one of the ways India might play it safe after Bangladesh’s whitewash over Pakistan. Kuldeep Yadav could have edged Axar Patel to a spot in the playing XI in other circumstances.
However, India could now play it safe. They might prefer to have Axar Patel at No.9, thereby giving more batting depth to the side. This might help the batters above play with more freedom which could give some extra runs to the side at a quick rate.
3) Playing KL Rahul in the middle-order
Considering Shreyas Iyer’s past performances against Bangladesh, Gautam Gambhir could have preferred him at No.5. Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli would have been the other choices in the middle order.
However, India could collapse at any stage and to tackle this, KL Rahul would be a better fit. He will give more solidity to the batting line-up. Hence, he could play at No.5 ahead of Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan.
