Chennai: India have picked fast-bowler Akash Deep as their third seam-bowling option as Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first in the Test series opener at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday.
India are currently placed at the top of the World Test Championship points table while Bangladesh are at fourth position. The Test in Chennai, to be played on a red-soil pitch, also marks the start of the Indian men’s team’s international home season.
India’s last Test assignment saw them beat England 4-1 at home, while Bangladesh come on the back of securing a remarkable 2-0 series win over Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
After winning the toss, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said his decision was based on exploiting the early moisture on offer at Chepauk.
“There’s moisture and we want to make use of it. Pitch looks hard. The first session will be very good for the seamers. This is a new series. It’s a good mixture of experience and youth. We go with three seamers and two all-rounders,” he said.
India skipper Rohit Sharma said he would have opted to bowl first, with their bowling combination being Akash, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj as pacers, along with two spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
“I would have done that as well (bowl first). Little soft, the pitch. It’s going to be challenging conditions. We have prepared well, so we should back our potential and play the way we know.
“Looking at the 10 Test matches, every match is important. But we want to focus on what lies in front of us. We came here a week back, we had a good prep leading up to this one. We feel confident,” Rohit said.
The match also marks the Test cricket return of wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant after nearly 20 months. His last Test before surviving a life-threatening car crash was co-incidentally against Bangladesh at Mirpur in December 2022.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj.
Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das (wicketkeeper), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana.
(IANS)
