Starting on Thursday, India will embark on a ten-match Test season that will culminate with the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia. Following their historic 2-0 rout of Pakistan last month, the Rohit Sharma-led team will play Bangladesh in Chennai in the first Test before the caravan travels to Kanpur for the second and last Test of the series the following week.
India’s biggest worry going into the game with the playing XI has been their bowling combination. India may opt for a 3-2 lineup because Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium is supposedly going to install a red-soil pitch in anticipation of the Australia tour, which will benefit the pacers. This may suggest that Akash Deep, who impressed on his Test debut for India in Ranchi earlier this year against England and claimed a match-winning nine wicket haul in the Duleep Trophy earlier this month, will be chosen as the third seamer.
India is mostly expected to follow the path they took in 2019, when they played Bangladesh at home and created identical pitch conditions. In that match, the spinners claimed just five wickets, while Ravindra Jadeja bowled just 19 overs in two games.
However, a PTI report claims that captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir have chosen a 2-3 lineup, meaning that Ashwin, Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav will be the three spinners, while Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah will split the pace duties. Axar will be forced to sit out after being victorious for India in the T20 World Cup final and putting on an outstanding all-around display in the Duleep Trophy earlier this month.
Earlier this year, Jurel made an outstanding Test debut against England, winning Player-of-the-Match in Ranchi. But for the first Test match against Bangladesh, the youthful player will have to give way to Rishabh Pant in the starting lineup. The left-hander’s last appearance in the format was in December 2022, just before an automobile accident kept him out of the game.
The rest of the batting line-up requires less discussion, with Rohit opening alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, while Shubmam Gill at No. 3, followed by Virat Kohli, would complete the top-order. At No. 5, KL Rahul is expected to be picked give his experience over Sarfaraz Khan, who showed signs of struggles in his two appearances in the Duleep Trophy so far.
