IND vs BAN 2nd Test: India aim to clean sweep Bangladesh, extend envious home dominance
After a comprehensive 280-run victory in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, India got their long Test season off to an ideal start. The Rohit Sharma-led side will now look to complete a whitewash as they take on Bangladesh in the second Test beginning from Friday, September 27 at Green Park, Kanpur.
India ticked most of their boxes in the opening Test with their bowlers firing on all cylinders. Spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were too hot to handle by the visitors while Jasprit Bumrah was at his indomitable best as he got good support from Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep. However, the hosts would hope for an improved performance from their batters and the spotlight will be once again on Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.
Making his return to the longest format after nine months, Kohli looked out of place as he got repeated his past mistakes and gave his wicket away. KL Rahul seemed to be batting without purpose in the first innings as he gloved the ball to forward short leg. Hence, both Kohli and Rahul will have a lot to play for in Kanpur as India look to maintain a clean record against Bangladesh.
On the other hand, Bangladesh, who were flying high ahead of the series having hammered Pakistan in the latter’s home to register a historic series win, all of a sudden seem listless heading into the second Test. A complete failure of batting exacerbated by inability to cash in at the right time highlighted Bangladesh’s woes in the opening Test.
In a surprising move, the most talked about person in the first Test due to his match readiness, Shakib Al Hasan, has also announced his retirement from the format. Shakib has expressed his desire to play his last Test in Bangladesh. However, if the security arrangements don’t allow it to happen, the legendary all rounder could well be donning the whites for one final time in Kanpur.
With all to play for in Kanpur, Bangladesh will look to give a fitting farewell to the veteran all rounder in his possible last fixture while Shakib will also hope for a big contribution with both bat and ball for possibly the final time in red ball cricket. With the cloudy conditions expected in Kanpur, the dark clouds are already hovering over Bangladesh Test team as they aim to fight their way to come back into the series.
Head-to-head
Played – 14 | India – 12 | Bangladesh – 2 | Draws – 2
Weather Forecast and Pitch Report
The weather doesn’t paint a good picture for the first three days of the Test as heavy rains are predicted during the game. The pitch is expected to behave like a typical Indian surface with good assistance to spinners throughout the game but the seamers are also likely to enjoy their outing in the middle due to the overcast conditions. Given the weather forecast for the match, captain winning the toss will look to bowl first.
Probable Playing XI
India – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj/Jasprit Bumrah
Bangladesh – Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed/Nahid Rana, Taijul Islam
