England wouldn’t have been too upset with playing just three One-Day Internationals (and three Twenty20 Internationals) in India. After all, they head off to West Indies shortly to play some more limited-overs cricket and then have a proper run-in on home soil before the Champions Trophy gets underway.
India, on the other hand, are a bit short-changed with how this 2016-’17 home season has been planned out. There isn’t any equilibrium in the number of Tests and ODIs scheduled, and it is almost as if the Board of Control for Cricket in India decided that the Indian Premier League in April-May will suffice as practice for the team’s title-defence in June.
At least they got one thing right. This solitary Test against Bangladesh, starting in Hyderabad on Thursday, serves as a precise warm-up before the all-important clash against Australia. Now, given the ease with which India brushed aside both New Zealand and England in the first half of the Test season, these remaining five Tests shouldn’t be a worry as such. Even so, the No. 1-ranked side in this longer format wouldn’t mind this opportunity to hit its red-ball straps once again.
Regaining momentum
For Virat Kohli and company, then, this one-off Test will be about regaining the momentum they had accrued in 2016. From series to series, facing West Indies, New Zealand and England in the latter half of the year, they had steamrolled the opposition in every manner possible. The veracity of this statement is seen most in their wins in Mumbai and Chennai against England. In both those Tests, the first innings went deep into day four, and yet the Indian team was able to power through to victory the next day.
The Wankhede pitch was more helpful of course, and so, the Chepauk win ought to give them more satisfaction as this team reflects on how they became the prevalent numero uno unit in the world. On a benign wicket, devoid of much help to the bowlers, they steamed through a hapless English batting line-up, riding on Ravindra Jadeja’s brilliance and their collective determination to win. Indeed, team India has been in a race of its own for much of this home season.
And this trend shouldn’t change just yet, particularly not against Bangladesh. The summation of Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin ought to be enough to earmark victory against the minnows. The two combine spectacularly well, and this is an understatement. If Jadeja doesn’t let the opposition score freely, Ashwin doesn’t let them breathe. If Jadeja doesn’t give them an inch in terms of line or length, Ashwin makes sure that they need to do something different to even survive his variations.
Simply put, if one doesn’t get you, the other will. And on true Test wickets, as we have seen during this home season so far, they are a handful. Sure, Bangladesh are a sub-continental team, in comparison to New Zealand, England and even Australia, who are yet to arrive here. Even so, not many will be willing to put down money on their batsmen negotiating these two spinners better than the teams that visited here before them, or will afterwards.
Sixth batsman vs fifth bowler
Building on their superior spin prowess then, it should be an easy pick for team India. Murali Vijay and KL Rahul will get another go at the top of the order, and so will Ajinkya Rahane, looking to make amends on his poor return in the England series. Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma should be the other obvious calls, unless the Hyderabad pitch has some green on it. Then, Bhuvneshwar Kumar comes into reckoning.
The only debate arises over the inclusion of a sixth full-time batsman, or a fifth bowler. Jayant Yadav is fit. He scored a maiden hundred in his last Test appearance, and his utility as a fifth bowling option cannot be denied. Then, there is Karun Nair, who also struck a maiden hundred in his last appearance, and thereafter made it large by becoming only the second Indian batsman to cross the 300-run mark in Test cricket.
India might not need a fifth bowler against Bangladesh. And if Kohli thinks so too, then it will be optimal to play a seventh batsman. Then again, do they need a seventh batsman? It is not to disrespect the opposition at this moment, but to highlight that the team’s middle and lower order have done the requisite job against their last three opponents in different conditions.
At the time of writing though, Amit Mishra has been ruled out owing to a knee injury sustained in the third T20I against England. Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been drafted into the squad in his place. It will be interesting to see if Kohli would want to include him in the XI, just to see how he fares ahead of an important series against Australia. As it is, the Indian skipper likes to experiment with his selections, throwing up a curve ball for the uninitiated.
Historic moment
Meanwhile, for Bangladesh, it is a historical moment in their relationship with Indian cricket. Their induction into this long format had been against this opposition in 2000, in Dhaka, and now they have come full circle with a series (albeit a one-off Test) on Indian soil. Never mind that this match was scheduled as barter-for-vote in former BCCI President N Srinivasan’s grand Big-Three plan, it could prove to be a pertinent marker for the future direction of Test cricket.
If Bangladesh are able to compete, and indeed give India a run for their money, it will showcase how the two-tier formula wasn’t the brightest idea. After all, you don’t want to segregate the limited number of Test nations into two classes, thus restricting a viable exchange of home and away bilateral series.
Alternately, however, if Bangladesh surrender meekly, it will pose a question to the ICC’s latest suggestion of nine-team Test league on a home-away basis across a two-year cycle. While this particular proposal does make for an all-inclusive schedule, there will be doubts on its commercial viability given the gap between higher and lower placed teams. In that aspect, this David-Goliath encounter assumes significance.
