India’s batters like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Rahul Dravid have often proven too strong for Bangladesh attack.
While India have overwhelmingly dominated the rivalry, Bangladesh’s improvement in the last decade has added more competitiveness to their encounters. Players like Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Tamim Iqbal have been key contributors for Bangladesh, and their presence has made these contests more engaging.
Bangladesh will be on a high after their Test series victory against Pakistan, but former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes that the visitors don’t have it in them to stun the hosts.
In an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com, Kaif, who played 13 Tests and 125 ODIs for India, said that the hosts are very strong in home conditions and it would be very tough for Bangladesh to throw up a surprise.
On Bangladesh winning the Test series in Pakistan and their chances in India, Kaif said, “India are very strong. Pakistan anyways are on a strong team. Bangladesh played very well in Pakistan no doubt about that but even Bangladesh know that they will have to work very hard to surprise India.”
Kaif continued, “The last time India visited Bangladesh, they lost the ODI series and Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel batted well to save a Test, but at that time some players were missing and in home conditions with the SG ball, India would be tough to beat.”
India’s last Test series was at home earlier this year when they beat England 4-1 in February.
“Citing the example of the England cricket team, who came to India riding high on ‘Bazball’, and even won the first Test and had thoughts of winning the series in India, even they couldn’t do that. When a team like England lost the series so easily, that proves that this Indian team is a very balanced one,” Kaif elaborated.
Turning tracks have always been the centre of attraction when it comes to Test cricket in India and this time both teams have quality spinners in their ranks.
Regarding the pitches for the both Tests in Chennai and Kanpur, Kaif said, “Both the Test matches will be played on black soil pitches having low bounce, both in Chennai and Kanpur.”
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is in fine form but the combination would come down to the balance between pacers and spinners in the team with workload management of the pacers in mind.
On the team combination, Kaif said, “India will definitely play three spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav and two pacers in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Kuldeep Yadav might play ahead of Axar Patel, it’s a tough call but Kuldeep is a genuine wicket-taker and his form recently has been very good.”
If the Indian think tank lay out a turning track, it may backfire as Bangladesh also have fine spinners in their ranks like Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam. Kaif said, “The last time when England came, then India coach Rahul Dravid set an example that we will have sporting tracks, not tracks on which Tests can get over in one and a half days, ones that even viewers would enjoy, have enough in them for batsmen to score hundreds and bowlers to take 5 wickets. When Ravi Shastri was coach and Virat Kohli was captain and South Africa played a Test in Mohali, the match got over in 2-3 days. But Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma preferred decent tracks, that’s good for batting in the beginning, and has something in it for the spinners, like a proper Test pitch. Against England, India played on decent tracks and that’s good for the game and the fans, so that good cricket prevails. Even Ajaz Patel took 10 wickets against India on a turning track. So Dravid and Rohit have learnt that we have a strong squad so we won’t play on an unprepared or a turning pitch, so that the opposition batting collapses.”
This will be the first Test assignment for Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir who replaced Dravid.
Kaif continued, “Gautam Gambhir will fully take the advice of Rohit Sharma as it will be his first Test series. So we have quality bowlers and quality batsmen. Bangladesh will have to work very hard and it’s not easy to beat India in India.”
On India losing to Sri Lanka in the recent ODI series, Kaif said, “In white ball cricket you don’t get the time to bounce back and even weak teams can beat strong teams. But in Test matches, you get two innings, so a surprise in a Test is rare. Upsets can happen frequently in white ball cricket, but this Indian Test team has very mature players. A player like Dhruv Jurel will have to sit out. So this Indian team is very good, even better than England. Rishabh Pant is back, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are there. This is the best Indian team and Gambhir would want that the momentum that builds here goes on till like Australia. This will be the crux of the team in Australia as well. Mohammed Shami might come in Australia in place of a spinner but there won’t be many changes. Game time for Australia starts from the Bangladesh series and players should have confidence of playing in the middle by the time they reach Down Under.”
The first Test against Bangladesh starts in Chennai from Thursday and the second Test will be played in Kanpur from September 27.
