Bangladesh out to spoil Kohli's honeymoon - Bangladesh v India Test preview

India's tour of Bangladesh is set to begin on 10th of June when India will play the first and only Test of the series against Bangladesh in Fatullah. Rohit Ranjan previews the match.

Bangladesh's recent form has forced the Indian selectors to send their full strength squad to Bangladesh for the first time.

After poor performances abroad, first against England and then Australia, Team India will be happy to play a Test match in the subcontinent after a year and half. India last played a Test series in subcontinent in November, 2013 against West Indies.

Virat Kohli will be captaining India for the first time since being appointed as MS Dhoni's successor as Test captain.

He captained India in two Test matches in Australia without winning either match so is still in search of his first Test match win as skipper. But on home ground, Bangladesh looks to cause some serious upsets.

On paper India look to be the stronger of these two sides, but Bangladesh produced unexpected results in the recent home series against Pakistan, so they can’t be underestimated either.

Bangladesh has never toured India for any ODI or Test series. They will sense some opportunity now to show their case that they are not the baby of world cricket any more. Bangladeshi players have shown their desire to play a Test series in India. If they can put some good performance here and stun India then perhaps BCCI will invite them for a full series in India.

Mushfiqur Rahim will lead the Bangladesh squad as ever. Their openers are in sublime form. Tamim Iqbal scored a double hundred against Pakistan and will be confident to score as he has always done against India. Imrul Kyes and Momimul Haque are also getting better and better and they are consistent too in the Test arena.

Mahmudullah has injured his finger in the nets which preparing for the first Test and will not be featuring in the Test or the ODIs. This is a major setback for Bangladesh as he was their World Cup hero this year.

Nasir Hossain is included in the squad and he is also expected to be in playing squad. With Shakib Al Hasan, Rahim and Soumya Sarkar, the middle order is quite stable too.

Bowling will be the point of worry for Bangladesh. Shuvagata Hom seems to be unaware of his role in the team. He played as a specialist spinner against Pakistan and struggled to make any impact.

The return of Rubel Hossain in the Test squad will boost the bowling to some extent but their ability to take 20 wickets in subcontinent is still a huge question.

As far as the Indian team's combination is concerned, they will go with seven batsmen and four bowlers. Five of the seven proper batsmen in Bangladesh's batting order are left-handed so India might opt for playing two off-spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh.

Harbhajan will play an international game after for the first time in more than two years. Despite getting a century in his last Test match against Australia at Sydney, KL Rahul will have to make way for Shikhar Dhawan, who should open the innings with Murali Vijay.

The middle order is very compact with Cheteshwar Pujara at three, then Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma which makes the batting order very solid while Wriddhiman Saha, Ashwin and Harbhajan can also be handy in these conditions.

Umesh Yadav will be the first choice fast bowler for India. Ishant Sharma has been included in the squad but he may not get a game as Bhuvneshwar Kumar was in prime form in the IPL. Ashwin and Harbhajan will make scoring tough for the Bangladeshi batsmen and they are well capable of taking wickets in spinning conditions.

Players to watch out for

Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the last Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia due to some poor performances. He was being dismissed after getting good starts and that put immense pressure on the middle order. Pujara has had some good outings in county cricket for Hampshire so he will land in Bangladesh with some runs under his belt and the only Test in Bangladesh will be very crucial for him.

He will ideally want to make this opportunity count and prove his worthiness for the team. This performance may also define his fate for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka and South Africa later this year.

Mominul Haque has been a revolution in Test cricket. He currently scores one fifty-plus score literally in each Test match and is the most consistent Bangladeshi batsmen in Tests.

Now he will have to deliver for the nation against India. Getting runs against a good bowling attack in favourable conditions will also boost his confidence. Mominul has everything anyone needs from a batsman to score Test runs so he will be keen to make this opportunity count.

Prediction

If everything goes according to what we are seeing from here, India should beat Bangladesh easily.

Probable Line-Ups

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murli Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (captain & wicket-keeper), Soumya Sarkar, Shuvagata Hom, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Shahid

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