The India cricket team doesn’t know what defeat means at home. Since that 2-1 loss to England in 2012, Team India has lost just 4 Test matches at home. That trend will most likely continue in Kanpur. However, a slow and low pitch being rolled out for the India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test could prove to be a challenge. Such conditions resemble what the visitors roll out for Test matches themselves in Bangladesh. Although their spinners didn’t do well in Chennai, the Kanpur pitch could bring the best out of Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam. To bag the series (2-0), Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir will have to make a couple of changes themselves.
Batting order set
If we are being honest, the batters pick themselves. Three (Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant) of the six Indian batters scored at least a half-century. The other three (KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) didn’t do that well. But there isn’t a chance any one of them is getting dropped or rested. Apart from the fact that he’s the Indian captain, Rohit has been one of India’s best batters in Rishabh Pant’s absence, and age has not been a barrier for him.
Kohli has overcome his slump and averaged 55.91 in 2023. His numbers this year (81 runs at 20.25) haven’t been great, but he’s played just two Tests. Also, the Chennai game was Kohli’s first Test first-class game since early January. His rust is likely to wear off soon; if not in Kanpur, then against New Zealand next month. As for KL Rahul, he may have disappointed in the first innings, but he was unbeaten in the second innings and, if allowed, could have scored at least a half-century, but the Indian management thought a 515 target was enough.
No place for Axar Patel, Siraj out
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have done exceedingly well for India for over a decade, and they aren’t getting dropped unless they have fitness issues. Since they have none, only one of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will feature in India’s playing for the 2nd Test against Bangladesh.
There is no doubt that Axar Patel has come leaps and bounds in the last couple of years. His batting, especially, has improved quite a bit in all formats. However, the fact that Jadeja does exactly what he does won’t help him. In Test cricket, barring spin hitting, Jadeja is way ahead of Axar.
Meanwhile, Kuldeep is a left-arm wrist spinner. That is the rarest kind of bowler in Test cricket. Paul Adams, the most prolific left-arm wrist spinner in Tests, has just 45 caps and 134 wickets to his name. He also has a great record against Bangladesh, claiming an 8-fer in the only game he played. Kuldeep being a left-arm wrist spinner is alone enough, and to add that with his ability to dupe the batters with his flight, variations and drift just makes the case to pick him over Axar more substantial.
Mohammed Siraj won’t make the cut in the Kanpur Test. Despite playing 28 Tests for India, Siraj continues to struggle with his line and length. He wasn’t bad in Chennai, but Akash Deep was just better than him. Siraj bowled double the overs and picked a similar number of wickets (2) as Akash Deep. Showing shades of Mohammed Shami with his pace, accuracy and ability to nip the ball around sharply, Akash Deep might be the pacer to go with in Kanpur and maybe in Australia come November.
Predicted India Playing XI for 2nd Test vs Bangladesh
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah.
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