India vs Bangladesh: Can Bangladesh surprise India?

India will take on Bangladesh in the first match of their 2-match Test series tomorrow at the M. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. This will be India’s first Test series since March 2024, when they played a 5-match home series against England, winning it 4-1. Since then, Rohit Sharma and his team have not played any long-format games, with their focus shifting towards the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. However, all the Indian players actively participated in the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League.

After winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, the Indian team is gearing up for another challenge, the ICC World Test Championship scheduled for 2025 at Lord’s. As part of their preparation, India will play several Test matches against top teams, beginning with a home Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, leading up to the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Despite being the number 1 ranked Test team in the ICC rankings, the Indian team management cannot afford to take the Bangladesh Tigers lightly. Whenever they have done so in the past, it has led to humiliating defeats, whether in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2007 or the 6-run loss in Colombo last year.

Bangladesh is coming into this series with momentum, having defeated India’s arch-rivals Pakistan in a 2-match Test series for the first time in cricketing history. It was Bangladesh's first win after failing to secure a victory in their last 13 encounters. This win was a morale booster for captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and his team, especially during a difficult time when Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India following student-led protests over government jobs. Despite this political turmoil, the Bangladesh cricket team provided some much-needed relief to their fans.

Given this, Bangladesh will be eager to carry their winning formula into the series against India, starting tomorrow in Chennai. The pitch conditions in India are similar to those in Bangladesh, where their spinners dominated the Pakistani batters. It would not be surprising if Indian batters face challenges against Bangladesh's spinners, who are coming off impressive performances.

The first match will be held at Chepauk Stadium, known for assisting spinners. It will be interesting to see how the Indian batters fare against Bangladesh’s spin attack, especially after being out of the red-ball format for five months. While the senior players have been away from Test cricket, the others have participated in India’s domestic tournament, the Duleep Trophy, to secure their spots in the squad for the Bangladesh series.

Despite the potential threat from Bangladesh, it won't be easy for them to challenge India on their home turf, where the hosts hold an impeccable record, remaining unbeaten in 13 Test matches against Bangladesh.

Squads for the 1st Test:

Bangladesh

Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shadman Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali Anik, Taskin Ahmed, Litton Das, Hasan Mahmud, Taijul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Khaled Ahmed

India

Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.