After a victorious detour at Chittagong, the Indian team returns to a familiar venue. Located on the outskirts of the Bangladesh capital, the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium was the home-base for the Indian team during the recent tri-series. The memories though are not pleasant as India lost the final to Sri Lanka.
The stadium still nurses a hangover of the tournament as the scoreboard features the Indian ODI team with the names of one-day specialists like Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli. The four-week long tour is on its concluding leg and India, back in its strong terrain of Test cricket and leading 1-0 in the two-match series, will strive to sign off on a winning note.
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The second Test commencing here on Sunday, should adhere to the script of Indian dominance though at Chittagong, victory was achieved after a scrappy contest. The Indian camp was bolstered with the welcome news of skipper M.S. Dhoni’s recovery from a back spasm and Harbhajan Singh’s return after skipping the first Test due to a stiff neck.
Injury woes though continued to plague the squad as V.V.S. Laxman and S. Sreesanth were ruled out of the match. Laxman played football and also helped his teammates at the pre-match training stint but avoided catching the ball with his bandaged left-hand. While Harbhajan will replace Sreesanth, it is a toss-up between M. Vijay and Dinesh Karthik for Laxman’s spot.
The change in personnel will not affect the Indian team in the normal course against a Bangladesh squad still finding its feet in Test cricket. The host however can spring a surprise as was evident in the manner in which it bowled out India for 243 in the first innings at Chittagong.
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During the tri-series, the slow pitch here yielded moderate runs, averaging 256 per innings with the highest being 297. It was a total scored by India in a winning chase against Bangladesh in the league-phase and interestingly Dhoni had remained unbeaten on 101.
Harbhajan and Amit Mishra will gradually get some purchase from the track. The spinners will augment the efforts of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, who displayed their striking prowess in the first Test in which the Indian batting performed in fits and starts.
Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir’s centuries had propped up the scores. The rest — ranging from the destructive Virender Sehwag to a solid Rahul Dravid should make amends over the next five days while there are a few worries over Yuvraj Singh’s poor form in the longer version of the game.
“Competition for spots is good and shows our bench-strength,” said Dhoni while players like Kohli, Raina, Manish Pandey and S. Badrinath hover in the wings.
Gambhir in focus
Gambhir was a subject of mirth at catching practice here on Saturday with Sehwag often pulling his leg over the odd-dropped chance. There was laughter all around but when the game commences here on Sunday, the entire Indian team’s good-will should boost Gambhir’s morale as he chases a record-equalling sixth consecutive Test century to join the hallowed company of Sir Don Bradman. “It will be a great achievement if he can get to the record and he has two innings here to do that,” said Dhoni.
Troubled times
For the host, the build-up to the final Test has been bleak. Worry-lines over its inept batting in the first Test and insinuations from the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s top-brass about a lack of commitment within the ranks have stirred up a needless controversy. “I don’t want to talk about the subject,” said Tamim Iqbal when asked about the ‘commitment factor.’
“All I know is that we need to concentrate harder and should not fritter away our starts,” the opener said.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan and his deputy Mushfiqur Rahim offered resistance in the first encounter and it is time for the rest to emulate them; else the contest will be a one-sided affair.
The teams (from):
India: M.S. Dhoni (capt.), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, M. Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha and Sudeep Tyagi.
Coach: Gary Kirsten.
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (capt.), Mushfiqur Rahim (vice-capt.), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Raqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Shahriar Nafees, Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Enamul Haque Jr., Mahbubul Alam, Naeem Islam and Shafiul Islam.
Coach: Jamie Siddons.
Umpires: Billy Bowden and Marais Erasmus; Third umpire: Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid; Match referee: Andy Pycroft.
Play starts at 9 a.m. (IST).