Gone are the days when Bangladesh were the whipping boys of cricket. Those were the days when the likes of Fab Four (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman) used to bat the opposition out of a match. Then, there was Virender Sehwag, the ultimate destroyer, who used to send the Bangladesh attack on a leather hunt.
With time, things changed. There is no Fab Four, there is no Sehwag and MS Dhoni, this is Virat Kohli’s team, which is only one Test match old. But this team has a few emerging stars like Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav who have showed potential to carry the rich tradition of Indian cricket.
When they take on Bangladesh in a one-off Test at Fatullah, the only goal for Kohli’s team is to start winning Test matches. In the past, India have come close to winning Tests under challenging conditions, but didn’t manage to actually cross over the winning line away from home.
This is the series, where India will look to change thing. With a new aggressive captain in Kohli, this team has already shown in Australia that its players are not scared of losing.
So, the Bangladesh series will be a good test for India before they take on more competitive teams like Sri Lanka, South Africa later this year. This is essentially Dhoni’s team. It’s time to tell the world that they are ready for all kinds of challenges.
There is nothing to be fretful about the experienced nature of this team. After showing glimpses of competing against the best, Kohli’s men have the talent, skill and energy to be the best.
Without underestimating the firepower of the hosts Bangladesh, India will be looking to get down to some series business straight away. Keeping in mind that a result is important for Test cricket, it will be interesting to see what kind of attack Kohli picks along with team director cum coach for the series Ravi Shastri.
Will Indian team management go with six batsmen and five bowlers or will they stick to seven batsmen and four bowlers? The combination formed here may set new trend in Test cricket involving India. Earlier, the Indian team depended a lot on the form of the batsmen and conditions before picking the number of bowlers in the playing XI.
If the batsmen weren’t able to score those runs freely, the team management, in most occasions picked an extra batsman by sacrificing a bowler. But with so much drive to win Tests, the top international teams these days prefer to have five bowlers.
Will India follow the same pattern? We have to wait and see. The conditions in Bangladesh are like that of India and so the spinners will certainly play a huge role. Bangladesh is certainly not the most consistent side, but they are capable of surprising the best of opponent.
They have a spring in their step after a few recent successes, but their batsmen will certainly be tested in fronts of the Indian bowlers. This match will also be a good opportunity for the Indian batting order to sort out their Test match temperament.
With so much of ODI and T20 cricket being played in international circuit, the likes of Dhawan and Rohit will get an opportunity to prove their worth. In all, this Test has enough elements to get all the attention. India, after all, are playing a Test match after five months. So, get ready for another round of battle in whites!
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