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The start of a new season of Test cricket sparks a frisson of excitement. That frisson is magnified this time around because India have a new backroom team in attendance, though there is no change in the overall perspective — to stack up victories. India have an enviable record on home turf, having won 40 and lost just four Tests since the start of 2013. Under Rohit Sharma, they will seek to extend that proud record when the first of two matches against Bangladesh gets underway at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday. Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side are fresh off a historic 2-0 victory in Pakistan and are eyeing a rare conquest of both continental giants in quick succession, though they won’t be unaware that India aren’t as ripe for the picking as Shan Masood’s outfit was.
Kohli, KL return
Even though they haven’t played a Test since the beginning of March, India appear a fighting fit unit back at full strength apart from Mohammed Shami, nearly totally recovered from surgery that has kept him out of action since the World Cup final in Ahmedabad last November. After having been forced to dig deep in the England series earlier in the year when players dropped off injured at the rate of knots, Rohit will welcome the return to action of his predecessor Virat Kohli, the experienced KL Rahul and the ebullient Rishabh Pant, primed for a Test comeback against the same opposition as in his last Test, in December 2022.
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Skipper Rohit Sharma (centre), Virat Kohli (left) and coach Gautam Gambhir during India’s practice session in Chennai on Tuesday
There has been plenty of chat in the lead-up to the game about a potential third seamer to back up Jasprit Bumrah, ready for his first slice of competitive action since the T20 World Cup final on June 29, and Mohammed Siraj, with the contenders being Akash Deep and the uncapped Yash Dayal. India will think long and hard but will more likely be inclined to go with a three-pronged spin attack as they chase valuable World Test Championship points.
India’s batters have been entrapped in the law of diminishing returns at home over the last three years, which has exposed their fallibility against the turning ball. Bangladesh have numerous wonderful exponents of spin with the versatile Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraj and Taijul Islam at the forefront, and they will fancy their chances, especially given that they pushed India to the brink in the last outing between the two teams, in Mirpur 21 months back.
Visitors rely on pacer Nahid
That there is more to Bangladesh’s bowling than only spin was obvious during their epochal Pakistani conquest, when Nahid Rana, the six-foot-five pacer, terrorised the flat-footed Pakistani batters. Bangladesh are banking on Nahid to provide the X Factor that will help them run India close, a theory that will be severely tested over the next fortnight. Their confidence is high not just because they stunned Pakistan, but also because they rallied from the debilitating depths of 26-6 in the first innings of the second Test in Rawalpindi to surge home by six wickets. Chepauk could throw up a cracker to match the sweltering heat.
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