India vs Bangladesh Test series is all set to entertain cricket fans to the fullest. The opening clash commences on Thursday, September 19. The venue of the match is MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh seeks their first-ever victory against India in Tests. Out of 13 games, they have lost 11 matches to India including two draw games.
However, they will face a strong challenge against Rohit Sharma & Co, who are the strongest side in ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 currently. It is time for India to dust the cobwebs off their whites as a long Test season beckons. Having not played a Test match in more than six months, they will now play ten in the next three-and-a-half, starting with Bangladesh’s visit for a two-match series.
IND vs BAN : Previous Performances
India’s National Cricket Team is set to begin their 2024 home season with an exciting multi-format series against Bangladesh. The series starts with a two-match Test contest, which forms a crucial part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle. The first Test, scheduled to begin on September 19 at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, will see both teams vying for vital WTC points.
India has a dominant head-to-head record against Bangladesh, having won 11 of their 13 previous Test encounters, with the remaining two ending in draws. However, Bangladesh enters this series on a high, following a historic 2-0 whitewash against Pakistan last month. Their captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, will be hoping to carry that momentum into the series and challenge India on their home turf.
IND vs BAN : Head to Head
Historically, India has been the superior team in the Test format against Bangladesh. Out of the 13 Test matches played between the two sides, India has claimed victory in 11, with two matches ending in a draw. Bangladesh, on the other hand, has yet to register a win in Test cricket against India, a record they will be eager to change.
Even in an age derided for excessive cricket, India haven’t shared much of that big-brother jollity with Bangladesh after welcoming them to this format of the game in 2000. In fact, it took them a good part of 17 years to finally host their neighbors for a Test.
Games between these two sides too haven’t quite risen to any big match status, either as an occasion or as a rivalry – despite the spikiness associated with the white-ball contests and the rise in internet hostilities. That India have won 11 of the 13 contests so far with the other two washed out offers some explanation.
What the two countries do share is a common narrative to the early early decades of their Test journey – of desperately wanting to shake off that albatross of struggling to put together consistent overseas wins. Bangladesh have been faster on that front and as a Test side may be nearing an inflexion point following their two superb wins in Pakistan.
Their reward for that achievement is to head straight into Test cricket’s toughest gig. India have won 17 straight series and have lost only four Tests at home in the last 11 years while Chennai will only be Bangladesh’s fourth appearance in a Test in this country
| Matches | 13 |
| Won by India | 11 |
| Won by Bangladesh | 00 |
| Tied | 02 |
| No Result | 10 |
| First-ever Fixture | November 10, 2000 |
| Most-recent Fixture |
December 22, 2022
|
IND vs BAN : Pitch Report
It’s a straw-colored red soil wicket with grass on it presumably left to bind the surface. It should offer good bounce. Deterioration and assistance for the spinners though could come along quicker owing to the high forecasted day temperatures in Chennai this week. It will be pretty hot and humid in Chennai. It will not be easy for any team and spinners are expected to play a major role. Batting first will be the ideal thing to do as it will get tougher with time.
The Chennai pitch for the opening Test will be a red-soil one and while there could be considerable bounce and carry for both the quicks and spinners, the surface is likely to break under the searing Chennai heat. This will mean the spinners should come into play as the Test goes on. There is an excessive heat warning in Chennai at the moment, with temperatures likely to be in the mid to high 30s (Celsius) range.
IND vs BAN : Big Picture : Can Bangladesh achieve another first vs Dominant India
It is no secret that India is one of the toughest destinations for any team, and Bangladesh have no reluctance to admit the same. They have played three Tests in India and faced heavy defeats each time. In fact, India are one of only two teams Bangladesh are yet to win a Test against in 13 attempts. In the last ten years, India have lost only four Tests at home and haven’t lost a series here in close to 12.
On paper, India can feel bullish about their chances of toppling Bangladesh when the first of the two Tests begins in Chennai on September 19. But this is a Bangladesh team that prides itself in achieving firsts.
In early 2022, they beat New Zealand for the first time in a Test match. Then only last month, they beat Pakistan for the first time in a Test, and beat them again to seal their first away series win in more than three years. Bangladesh have traditionally not been great travelers. They have only achieved eight overseas Test wins in 67 attempts, but it is worth noting that four of them have come since 2021.
That’s not to say India don’t start as overwhelming favourites. They sit pretty at the top of the World Test Championship [WTC] points table with a percentage of 68.52, and in the form they are in should make it to their third final next year. But they are coming off a bit of a break from the format, and have players in their top order who have been out of Test action for even longer. Virat Kohli last played a red-ball game in the first week of January. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are also making Test comebacks.
India’s batters have in recent times shown vulnerability against quality spinners, and in Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam, Bangladesh have three who can run through a batting line-up on their day. Bangladesh are coming into this series on an absolute high and, with India potentially rusty, will hope to catch them off guard.
IND vs BAN : Vital Stats that matters
- India are on a streak of 17 unbeaten home Test series, which dates back to November 2012
- Jasprit Bumrah is the highest wicket-taker for India in Tests in 2024: 27 in five games at 15.07
- With 1028 runs in just nine Tests, Yashaswi Jaiswal is second on the list of top run-getters in the current WTC cycle. His average of 68.53 puts him second behind Kamindu Mendis among the top ten names on this list.
- Pant averages 77.16 against spinners in Tests in India and strikes at 100.87.
- Mushfiqur Rahim averages 55.16 in Tests in India.
- If India win the Chennai Test, it will be the first time in their history that they’d have more wins than defeats in the format
- Yashaswi Jaiswal is only seven sixes behind Brendon McCullum’s record of most sixes (33) hit in a calendar year in Tests
- Mehidy Hasan Miraz has the highest run aggregate (380 at 47.5) and also the most wickets (23 at 28.0) for Bangladesh in this WTC cycle
IND vs BAN : Team News
India
In the last Test series between these sides on these shores, India attacked Bangladesh with a lot of pace and the surface in Chennai could allow India to play with just Ashwin and Jadeja as the two spinners. However, in the interest of rotating the quicks through the home season, they are likely to stick with the 2-3 combination and have Kuldeep extend his rare run of continuous Tests to five.
India though could split the pair of Bumrah and Siraj in the interest of having one experienced pacer available while the other rests. KL Rahul is expected to start ahead of Sarfaraz Khan in the middle-order despite the latter being one of only two Indian batters to use the optional practice session on the day before the game for a top-up session. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant is also likely to slot back into the wicketkeeper role in place of Dhruv Jurel, who played the last three Tests against England.
India have largely tended to play three spinners and two quicks in their home Tests, but they could be tempted to play three quicks against Bangladesh – as they did in both Tests in the 2019-20 series – on a red-soil Chepauk pitch that promises bounce and carry. Spin, though, is expected to play a major role as the pitch bakes under the Chennai sun, so three spinners seems the likelier option. In this case, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will lead the fast bowling unit, with R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav as the three spinners.
India Probable Playing XI : Rohit Sharma (c), Yashaswi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk.), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Bangladesh
The visitors will have a similar toss-up to their bowling combination given their own two spin-bowling all-rounders. They played three seamers in Pakistan but with conditions expected to be a little more conducive for spin this week than it had been in Rawalpindi, Taijul Islam is a solid option. There is also a temptation to break the chain of left-handers in the line-up by bringing in Mahmudul Hasan Joy at the top of the order, but such a change might constitute a needless change of a winning team and will be resisted.
Bangladesh are unlikely to make too many tweaks to their winning playing XI from the second Test in Pakistan last month. They may also look to play three spinners. Bangladesh fielded Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana as their three quicks in the second Test in Rawalpindi, and the pace trio picked up 14 of the 20 wickets they took, including all ten in the second innings.
But in Chennai, they could think about bringing Taijul into the mix alongside Shakib and Mehidy. Shakib arrived in Chennai late on Tuesday night after playing a game for Surrey in the County Championship.
Bangladesh Probable Playing XI : Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan , Litton Das (wk.), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana
Ind vs Ban Fantasy Playing XI : Litton Das, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Shakib Al Hasan, Ravindra Jadeja (C), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jasprit Bumrah, Nahid Rana
IND vs BAN : Players to watch out for: Rishabh Pant and Mehidy Hasan Miraz
Since his car accident in December 2022, Rishabh Pant has made a comeback in the IPL, T20Is, and ODIs. Now nearly two years later, a Test comeback beckons. It is a format Pant has excelled in; he has an average close to 44, a strike of 70-plus, with 11 fifties and five centuries. In his absence, Ishan Kishan, KS Bharat, Rahul and Dhruv Jurel have all donned the wicketkeeping gloves, but now that Pant is back, he’s set to take back his place behind the stumps.
He proved his fitness in the opening Duleep Trophy encounter in Bengaluru, where he kept for 125.4 overs across the two innings. Ahead of a busy season, Pant might want to get his Test motor running nice and early.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe reckoned Mehidy Hasan Miraz was “ready to take over whenever Shakib moves out”. Recent numbers suggest he is well on course.
In the current WTC cycle, no Bangladesh player has scored more runs than Mehidy (380 in ten innings) or taken more wickets (23 in six Tests). He was a key contributor with both bat and ball in Bangladesh’s series win in Pakistan and on a Chennai track which is likely to aid spin, particularly later in the game, Mehidy has a chance to further enhance his Test credentials.
IND vs BAN : Match Prediction
This series holds significant importance as it is a part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2023-25, adding an extra layer of competition for both teams. India has maintained an impressive record of not losing a home test series since 2013, making them the clear favorites as they head into the first test. However, Bangladesh is riding high on confidence following their historic series win over Pakistan, making them a formidable opponent for the Indian team.
However on Home ground Team India remains strong favorites to win the match at Chennai but should be wary of resurgent Bangladesh capable of springing a surprise.