India vs Bangladesh 2019 | How are Bangladesh preparing for India tour?
Bangladesh tour of India starts on 3rd November 2019. The visiting team is scheduled to play three T20Is, beginning November 3 before the two Tests that start on November 14. The two Test matches will mark the beginning of Bangladesh’s campaign in the ICC World Test Championship. Pakistan is the only other team not to have played a Test since the beginning of the ICC Test Championship. With their win in the Caribbean and against South Africa (first Test), India lead the points table with 160 points.
For Bangladesh, the Test Championship couldn’t have begun against a stronger and in-form team. Despite a good World Cup in England and a shared T20-Tri series win, Bangladesh are far from challenging the Asian giants in their own den. In their 115-match Test history, Bangladesh have played nine matches against India, losing seven and drawing two. However, only one match has been played in India so far in 2017 at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, where the hosts won comfortably by 208 runs.
Murali Vijay (108) and Wriddhiman Saha (106*) scored patient centuries while Cheteshwar Pujara (83), Ajinkya Rahane (82) and Ravindra Jadeja (60*) played well for their respective half-centuries. But the star of the show was captain Virat Kohli who scored a majestic double-ton (204) to walk away with the man of the match award. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took 12 Bangladesh wickets to expose their frailties against the spinners. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was the only visiting batsman to score a century.
Their recent result in the longest format has been abysmal as they succumbed to a 224-run defeat to an inspired Afghanistan team at Chittagong. Opposition captain Rashid Khan was the wrecker-in-chief as he claimed 11 wickets.
Bangladesh’s domestic first-class tournament, the National Cricket League (NCL) starts on 10th October and is expected to serve as a good preparatory ground for their national team players. Looking at the form of the national team, the national Selector, Habibul Bashar has made the NCL mandatory for the team players unless given a valid reason like a hamstring injury or a broken finger.
"Without any valid reason, no one will be allowed to skip NCL. Suppose someone has hamstring injury or broke a finger, then it is something for consideration, but without these reasons, we will not entertain other explanation as everyone will have to play the NCL."
However, the former captain made it clear that the players who are playing in the foreign leagues or A teams will be the only ones to be excused from the NCL.
"It is a different case for players who are playing in the foreign leagues. But some players take leave showing family issues or for the purpose of travelling, but these things won't be tolerated this time. If anyone is playing cricket in some other country or suffering some serious injury, then it is a different matter and we will consider that. But apart from that, we are not ready to consider anything," Bashar concluded.
Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das are currently playing in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). The preparation camp for the India tour will begin on 25th October under their new bowling consultant Daniel Vettori and limited-overs bowling coach Neil McKenzie.
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