Hello and welcome to our live blog for the historic one-off Test match to be played between India and Bangladesh. The match will be played at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday and the match is scheduled to start at 9:30 am IST. The one-off Test starts following India’s 4-0 win against the visiting England in the five-match Test series and then following it up by clinching the ODI and T20I series as well against the same side.
India led by Virat Kohli is positive about their chances in this Test match and not taking Bangladesh lightly. However, cautioning his No.1-ranked team against any complacency while playing in Tests against Bangladesh, Kohli said the Tigers have the required skills to be successful in the five-day format as well. Also Read: India vs Bangladesh Preview: India hoping to keep winning momentum against Bangladesh
On the other hand, Bangladesh have played just four matches against India in India so far since 1991 – three One-Day Internationals (one in 1991 and two in 1998) and an ICC World Twenty20 game in 2016. Their famous and biggest victory in Test came when they defeated England at their den. However, Bangladesh last played a two-match test series in New Zealand, in which they were whitewashed by the Black caps.
All the eyes will be on spinners as, if Indian spinners can wreak havoc in the sub continent, Bangladesh also have their armour in place. For example, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, as last year, he took 22 wickets to be named Man of the Series that Bangladesh played against England, with his best of 12 wickets coming in the second Test in Dhaka which Bangladesh won by 108 runs to level the series.
If India have R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja at their disposal, Bangladesh have the trio of Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam. Senior most Shakib Al Hasan has 165 Test wickets under his belt in 46 wickets while Islam also has taken 43 wickets in only 11 Tests. Also Read: India vs Bangladesh: Play more Tests with us before writing us off, says Mushfiqur Rahim
Talking about head to head then, till now, the Men in blue have played total eight Test matches against Bangladesh and won six of them, while remaining two were drawn. This also shows that they are unbeatable against Bangladesh. So, this one-off Test between India and Bangladesh will be an interesting one as the visitors will fight for a victory or at least avoid defeat.
India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.
Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Mosaddek Hossain, Liton Das, Mominul Haque, Shafiul Islam.