Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium is set to host the first India vs Bangladesh Test, starting Thursday. No surprise that the Chepauk track would favour the spin bowlers and there is a strong possibility of India going into the game with three spinners and two pacers.
If a PTI report is to be believed, the spinners expected to feature are Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav while Bumrah and Siraj will share the workload in the pace department. Axar Patel, despite his impressive all-round returns across formats, may have to sit out.
Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has returned to the set-up for the first time since recovering from the injuries he sustained in the horrific car accident in December 2022. The reports stated that Pant is expected to make his way into the playing XI while Dhruv Jurel, who impressed in his debut series against England, would be benched in that case.
Focus on Jaiswal
With 10 Tests this season, Jaiswal comes in with a heady reputation as one of the future megastars in the making having scored 1000 plus runs in his first 9 Tests with 700 plus coming against England in a single series.
But in the nets on Monday, Bumrah repeatedly made short work of the Mumbai youngster often sending his off-stump cart-wheeling for fun. The young batter certainly didn’t look in the best of touch and was seen playing with hard hands trying to push the deliveries.
And it was not just Bumrah but even net bowlers like Simarjeet Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Gurjanpreet Singh who got past his outside edge time and again.
At one point, the legendary Virat Kohli was seen talking to him trying to explain where he was going wrong. Both Kohli and Jaiswal took turns and batted for nearly an hour, facing around 50 balls. Jaiswal was more comfortable against spinners as he at times rocked back to play the square cut.
India will have two more practice sessions scheduled before the series opener against Bangladesh, who are riding on the confidence of their series sweep in Pakistan.
(With PTI Inputs)
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