India will try to register a big win to improve the position in the World Test Championship
Mirpur. Buoyed by a resounding victory in the first Test, the Indian cricket team will look to register a big win against Bangladesh in the second and final Test match, starting here on Thursday, to improve their position in the World Test Championship (WTC). Stand-in captain KL Rahul will also be under watch in this match as he has been struggling to score runs of late. The race is on to grab the top two spots in the WTC table. India ranks second with a percentage score (PCT) of 55.77. India has benefited from the humiliating defeat at the hands of Australia in South Africa’s Gabba Test. South Africa’s PCT is 54.55 while Australia continues to top the list with 76.92 PCT.
The upcoming home series against Australia will be crucial for India to retain the top two spots in the WTC table but it cannot afford to take any chances against Bangladesh, who got out cheaply in the first innings of the first Test. Showed belligerence after being. Regular skipper Rohit Sharma is yet to fully recover from a thumb injury and is unlikely to make any changes in the Indian XI. Players like Shubman Gill and Kuldeep Yadav got a golden opportunity in the first Test match and they took full advantage of it. Even if Rohit was fit for the match, it would have been difficult to drop Gill as he had scored his maiden Test hundred in Chittagong.
But Rohit is not fit and in such a situation, Gill would like to take full advantage of another opportunity. Rahul would also like to lead from the front after failing in both the innings of the first Test. Like Chittagong, the pitch is expected to be on the slow side here too which would be ideal conditions for the batsmen. In such a situation, it will be a great platform for Rahul to return to form before the series against Australia. Veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who returned from the only Test match played against England, has strengthened his position at number three by scoring 90 and 102 not out in the first Test. Pujara gave a befitting reply to his critics by batting aggressively in the second innings. It will also be an ideal platform for Virat Kohli to score his first Test hundred since November 2019.
India scored at a rate of more than four runs per over in the second innings and it will be interesting to see if the Indian team goes with the same positive attitude. Given the conditions, the bowlers would like to once again target the wicket and bowl whether it is a fast bowler or a spinner. Kuldeep, playing his first Test match since February last year, performed brilliantly in the last match and took eight wickets. He bowled less than R Ashwin and Akshar Patel in the second innings but still managed to take three wickets. Ashwin managed only one wicket on a spin-friendly track and will be eager to make up for it here. Akshar proved his worth by taking four wickets in the second innings. He would like to take inspiration from the way Bangladesh batted on the fourth day.
Opener Zakir Hasan, playing on his Test debut, showed that he is ready to play at this level by scoring a century.Senior batsmen Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim would like to learn from their mistakes and score big. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan was unable to bowl in the second innings due to injury and hence Bangladesh have included left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed in their squad. He may get a chance to make his Test debut on Thursday. Former captain Mominul Haque is also likely to be included in the squad.
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Bangladesh squad: Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque, Yasir Ali, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Liton Das, Nurul Hasan, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Khalid Ahmed, Zakir Hasan, Razour Rahman Raja. India: KL Rahul (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat. The match will start at 9 am Indian time.
