India vs Bangladesh, 1st Test: Toss result and playing 11s, umpires list and pitch report
Team India will take on Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series, which kicks off on Wednesday, December 14, at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. The Men in Blue were clearly second best in the ODI series and the 1-2 result was a fair indication of how the white-ball contest played out.
Bangladesh are not as strong in Test matches, either at home or away. However, they will take a lot of confidence from the one-day series win into the red-ball matches.
Still, it would be a massive upset and a huge disappointment if India end up losing to Bangladesh in the Test series as well, an ignominy they have managed to avoid in the short rivalry between the Asian teams.
Even in Rohit Sharma’s absence for the first Test, the visitors have enough experience and expertise in their line-up to get the better of Bangladesh in the latter’s den. They cannot take the hosts lightly, though, something which they seemed to do in the ODIs, and ended up paying a heavy price.
Today's IND vs BAN toss result
India have won the toss and opted to bat first. Speaking about the decision, stand-in captain KL Rahul explained:
“It looks like a good wicket. We want to put runs on the board and hopefully, some cracks open up a little, so we can pick 20 wickets.”
KL Rahul won the toss and India will bat first 🏏
#CricketTwitter #banvsind https://t.co/XQY6s2mzss
The visitors are playing three spinners. Kuldeep Yadav comes in alongside Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel.
For Bangladesh, Zakir Hasan is making his Test debut in the game.
IND vs BAN - Match playing XIs
India: Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
Bangladesh: Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (w), Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain.
Today's IND vs BAN pitch report
According to Sanjay Manjrekar, the look of the pitch is a bit surprising. There’s a decent covering of grass which is not to be confused with a green top. This is to ensure the cracks don't get bigger. There's enough roughness for the spinners to make an impact from Day 3.
IND vs BAN match players list
India: KL Rahul (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Srikar Bharat, Navdeep Saini, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Saurabh Kumar.
Test-mode 🔛
Preps done, all set for the #BANvIND Test 👌
#TeamIndia https://t.co/yqX2iDXYrm
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Khaled Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Litton Das, Anamul Haque, Yasir Ali, Rejaur Rahman Raja.
IND vs BAN - 1st Test match umpires
On-field umpires: Michael Gough, Sharfuddoula
TV umpire: Chris Brown
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle