Pink is the flavour of the times. Thanks largely to the very first pink-ball Day-Night Test in the country, to be played next week between India and Bangladesh at the Eden.
The pink ball has even made its presence felt during India’s nets at the Holkar Stadium, which hosts the first Test from Thursday. Before all the attention gets diverted to Calcutta, it’s time for some red-ball cricket, and no prizes for guessing which team should be holding the upper hand.
The approach and attitude of the Indian squad during their training session on match-eve was a reflection of Virat Kohli and his teammates’ mindset, as they have been invincible at home. True, the teams visiting Indian shores in the last couple of seasons are going through a transition, making matters a tad easier for the home team.
At the same time, the current Indian side’s ability to claw out of critical situations — even though they have been very few in home Tests — has also stood out. So under the circumstances, one cannot foresee anything barring another round of Indian ruthlessness.
Bangladesh, though, did have their moments in the preceding T20I series against an Indian unit without some of its key men. Agreed, T20 and Test cricket are completely different entities.
But a maiden series win against India would certainly have given Bangladesh that extra bit of confidence against a side that is not just back to almost full strength now, but also miles ahead with already 240 points in the ICC World Test Championship charts.
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Yes, Bangladesh are yet to begin their Test Championship campaign while India have already played five matches. But it’s the authority and command with which India have won the matches so far, which only suggests what could be in store for a Bangladesh side without two of their pillars — Shakib-al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.
The form of some of their experienced and seasoned players, too, doesn’t look encouraging. For instance, during Wednesday’s practice session, Mahmudullah got beaten on quite a few occasions and even had his stumps rattled by net bowlers.
With the Holkar Stadium pitch having a bit of grass, one can only presume how tough life could be for Bangladeshi batsmen when Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma operate in tandem.
In India now, it’s no more about dealing with the hosts’ batting line-up that gets stronger every time they play at home and their spinners. Shami and Umesh’s performances in the preceding series against South Africa proved that India’s current set of quicks are not just intimidating, but also among the fearsome in world cricket.
Talking about India’s batting, Rohit Sharma, being sublime in his first series as Test opener, looks good enough to pile on more runs. Also, captain Kohli is back with a supposedly refreshed mind and will be hungry to score big.
Then you do have the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. The Test vice-captain, particularly, has been very consistent ever since working with Rahul Dravid before India toured the West Indies.
Given the conditions, it would be a surprise if India don’t go in with a three-pronged pace attack.
“Yeah, that (playing three pacers) seems pretty likely looking at the pitch. Also because of the way Umesh has bowled… Shami obviously has been brilliant.
“Ishant has probably been our most consistent bowler in the last two years and a big, big reason for our success in Test cricket is his ability to just keep bowling in the same area for the others to come and pick up wickets,” Kohli said.
But what about the spinners? Will it be the usual Ravichandran Ashwin-Ravindra Jadeja combination or could there be a change?
Well, Kuldeep Yadav even batted for a while at nets apart from doing his share of bowling.
To talk of Bangladesh, they seem to be in a fix regarding their final XI. They are likely to go in with an extra batsman in the form of Mohammad Mithun, with Mushfiqur Rahim set for the No.4 slot and young Saif Hassan hoping to make his debut.
But it’s Bangladesh’s bowling that seems to be their biggest worry, especially the form of Mustafizur Rahman.
- Match starts: 9.30am.