The injury list for Team India continues to grow as fast bowler Navdeep Saini has been ruled out from the upcoming Dhaka Test against Bangladesh, starting Thursday.
Saini, who was benched from the Chattogram Test, has an abdominal muscle strain and will report to the NCA in Bangalore, the BCCI said.
The BCCI has also confirmed that captain Rohit Sharma will miss the second Test too after missing the first Test and the preceding 3rd ODI due to his thumb injury. Sharma suffered a thumb injury while fielding in the second ODI. He came out to bat at number 9 in that game, and scored 51* runs, however, after that he returned back to India for further treatment.
“The Medical Team is of the opinion that the injury needs some more time to heal completely before the Indian captain can bat and field with full intensity. He will continue his rehab and will not be available for the second and final Test against Bangladesh,” the BCCI added.
India won the first Test by a big margin of 188 runs under KL Rahul’s captaincy, and the opener will continue as the skipper in Dhaka. India will aim to win this Test to inch closer to a spot in the WTC final.
Here is India’s predicted XI for the 2nd Test vs Bangladesh:
Openers: Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (C)
Gill registered his maiden Test century in Chattogram. In the second innings, the young opener scored 110 runs in 152 balls with the help of 10 fours and 3 sixes. His, and Pujara’s century, both of whom scored at over 70 strike rate, helped India declare early.
Gill perhaps would have been benched had Rohit Sharma been declared fit. However, now that Sharma isn’t here, Gill gets another opportunity to tell the management that he should be in the starting XI whether Sharma is fit or not.
KL Rahul had two low scores of 22 and 23 in the first Test. This was also his first Test match in 11 months. He will captain the team in Dhaka, but with Gill scoring runs and being in form, there might just be a slight pressure on KL Rahul to deliver soon.
Middle-order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk)
Pujara broke his long almost-four-year century drought, and he did it in an uncharacteristic fashion, scoring 102 runs in 130 balls (strike rate of 78!) in the second innings as India needed him to bat briskly to set up a declaration. Pujara’s place might just have been on thin ice before this Test, but he’s cemented it for at least until February’s BGT vs Australia at home.
Kohli scored 1 and 19*. Iyer once again showed his good form with 86 in the first innings, helping India recover from early trouble. Pant counter-attacked his way to 46 runs in 45 balls after India had lost three early wickets in the first session itself.
All-rounders: Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin
Axar and Ashwin provide the batting depth in the team, and even Kuldeep did well with the bat. Ashwin couldn’t make big impact with the ball, returning with figures of 0/34 & 1/75, but he made a solid 58 in the first innings.
Axar was impressive in the second innings, returning with figures of 4/77, and showcasing that he has the ability to take wickets with the ball turning away from the right-handers. In the absence of Jadeja, Axar has been brilliant in his short Test career so far.
Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
On his return to the Test team, Kuldeep Yadav bagged the Man of the Match award for figures of 5/40 & 3/73 and he also scored 40 runs in the first innings.
India are likely to stick with two pacers – Umesh and Siraj. Siraj made early incisions in Bangladesh’s first innings while Umesh was rapid and kept things tight in the second essay. The options among pacers on the bench are Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat, but India are likely to stick with Umesh and Siraj.
So basically we are expecting an unchanged India XI in the second Test vs Bangladesh:
Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
