After
securing a 2-1 victory in the recently concluded T20I series, the Indian team
would face Mominul Haque’s Bangladeshi unit in a two-match Test series. The
Indian side is coming at the back of two successive Test series victories
against the West Indies and South Africa. In fact, the Proteas were completely
whitewashed at home merely a month back or so and hence it can be concluded
that the Indian Test team is in an imperious run of form as of now. With the
World Test Championship having commenced too, this series would hold much more
context and importance for both sides. The Indian team has won all of their
five WTC matches so far and hence has accordingly earned 240 points in this
process. The series against Bangladesh presents them another relishing chance
to bag 120 points in their kitty and they look well set to do so currently.
Three Key Players for India:
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has been in sensational form of late. Image: AP
Rohit Sharma
was in some excellent form when he got his first opportunity to open the
batting in the last series against South Africa. He slammed two centuries in
the very first match and doubled it up with a double century under severely
testing conditions in Ranchi. Battling the initial phase when Kagiso Rabada
spewed fire with his deliveries and amid the initial fall of wickets, Rohit scored
212 runs and led India to a comfortable total from which they secured an
innings-victory against South Africa. Once again, the Hitman would be the key
to set the pace and build the base at the start of the innings for the Indian
team.
Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin was on fire against South Africa in the last Test series. Image: Getty
Ravichandran
Ashwin announced his comeback to international cricket after a rather long layoff
in style against South Africa as he scalped 15 dismissals in the entirety of
the series. Whenever the Indian team was in a spot of bother, Ashwin toiled
hard, kept bowling at the same lines and eventually managed to get one over the
South Africans. Bangladesh generally play spin bowling extremely well, and
Ashwin continues to remain India’s most potent threat in the longest format of
the game. Hence, it would be interesting to witness how India’s premier spinner
would react and carry out his game in front of a team that would sort of be
well-versed to deal with the threats that he would pose.
Umesh Yadav
Regardless
of what one says about Umesh Yadav, the pacer has been in some peerless run of
form on Indian tracks. Though he might have been a bit inconsistent in foreign
pitches, in India, he has been rather remarkable ever since the 2016-17 home
season. His tendency to bowl wicket-taking deliveries, extracting reverse-swing
with the old ball and then bounce out the batsmen with his zipping pace ensure
that he is able to notch wickets even in a sometimes lifeless subcontinent
track. Yadav was initially left out of the squad against South Africa, but
Jasprit Bumrah’s injury meant that Umesh attained an excellent opportunity to
display his mettle on the field. He did so brilliantly and is amongst one of
the first in the lines to make his way to the starting XI in Indore.
Key Factors that will decide the game for India:
How the Bangladeshi batsmen cope
against Indian pacers?
In the past,
tackling the Indian spinners meant that more than half of the job was done for
the visiting teams. The series loss against England in 2012 is a testament to
the same. However, the current Indian side boasts of as brilliant a pace as
their spin-bowling unit and hence it would be interesting to see how the
Bangladeshis bring up their best game against the likes of Ishant Sharma, Umesh
Yadav and Mohammed Shami in a coming couple of Test matches. Umesh and Shami
would spew venom with their incredible pace whilst Ishant can hold one end up
and tickle the Bangladeshis with his laudable discipline and consistency and
even the ability to notch wickets at timely moments of the game. Though our
neighbors are impressive players of spin bowling, the same remains to be seen
against genuine pacers especially without the services of Shakib al Hasan and Tamim
Iqbal.
Can they break the Indian batting
order down?
Team India is in fine form and is the favorites to win the series. Image: Getty
Rohit
Sharma’s addition to the top of the lineup has added unmatchable quality and
experience to an already formidable Indian batting order. His ability to play
big innings, pile further misery and that too at a remarkable scoring rate ensure
that the Indian team would attain a brilliant start to the innings at least.
Ahead of that, the home side has Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli
and Ajinkya Rahane up their ranks. Rahane has bagged two centuries in the last two
series’, both under difficult conditions and his return to form has been met
with a long sigh of satisfaction as that completes and locks in a lineup with
all in-form batsmen who can alone cause havoc on their respective days. Having
missed out on a big one against South Africa and West Indies though, Pujara
would be eyeing a significant knock in this innings and that is hardly good
news for the Bangladeshi bowlers!
Other Details:
Predicted
Indian playing XI:
Mayank
Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane,
Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Ishant
Sharma, Mohammed Shami
Venue and
timings:
Date: 14-18th November 2019
Time: 9:30 AM IST
Venue: Holkar Stadium, Indore
The match will be broadcast across
Star’s multiple channels and can also be streamed live on Hotstar.