India’s T20 World Cup triumph in the Caribbean may be less than three months old. But the silverware-drought-ending feat has done little to temper expectations around Rohit Sharma’s men, who embark on the home stretch of their World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 campaign with a two-match series against Bangladesh.
The format of the WTC, which runs over two years across six series for each of the nine participating sides, has imbued bilateral engagements with jeopardy and consequence.
Even as India’s post-T20 World Cup experiments against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka flew under the radar, in large part because of the Olympic Games in Paris, the assignment against Bangladesh or the oncoming packed Test season will afford no such leeway.
India will play 10 Test matches, five at home and as many away, over the next four months to consolidate its top position in the WTC standings and march into its third successive final. The upcoming four months will test the skill and fitness of India’s finest long-format cricketers, whose last 10 Tests were held over 14 months, starting from the WTC 2023 final defeat to Australia at The Oval.
Though the trial by pace that awaits India Down Under during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets top billing, the Bangladesh test at home, before the Kiwis come visiting for three matches, will be a handful.
A historic 2-0 series win in Pakistan propped Bangladesh up to the fourth spot in the table, and The Tigers will be borne on that tailwind from Rawalpindi when they dock on the balmy shores of Chennai before moving on to Kanpur.
India has maintained a clean sheet against Bangladesh in Tests, but it came as close as it ever has to conceding that spotless record the last time the two met, back in December 2022 in Mirpur. On a day-four pitch that turned and kept low, Mehidy Hasan Miraz had the visitor in a bind before Shreyas Iyer and R. Ashwin’s rearguard led to a scrappy three-wicket win.
Go-to circuit-breaker: Rishabh Pant’s significance this Test season cannot be overstated, especially with the Test series Down Under looming large and his heroics at the Gabba in 2021-22 still the flavour of the storied rivalry. | Photo Credit: R. Ragu
Rohit missed that series, but he will keep his unit from drifting into complacency as Bangladesh is no stranger to these conditions.
India and Bangladesh are the most spin-friendly host countries in Tests since 2020, where the tweakers average 25.55 and 32.11 runs per wicket, respectively.
The host will take lessons from its four defeats at home in the last seven years, where rank turners were a double-edged sword, be it against Australia in Pune in 2017 and Indore in 2023, or versus England in 2021 in Chennai.
India’s dwindling returns against spin bowling at home were arrested to an extent during the England series this year, and the absence of prodigious turn and uneven bounce meant run-scoring wasn’t reduced to a mere lottery. That said, Tom Hartley’s seven-for in Hyderabad did jolt the host initially.
India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal, K.L. Rahul, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill during a practice session ahead of the first Test match against Bangladesh at Chepauk Stadium in Chennai on Monday. | Photo Credit: R. Ragu
India’s top six batters’ cumulative batting average against spin had dropped to 40 runs per wicket in 2021, and the slide continued in 2022 (36.5) and 2023 (25.9) before rising to 48.4 this year. With the return of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, India will hope to further allay its spin demons. Kohli missed the five-match series against England due to personal reasons, and with his batting average against spin on the mend, his experience will be vital in the middle-order against the likes of Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan.
Rahul, meanwhile, freed up of wicketkeeping duties and coming off a half-century in the Duleep Trophy, will have a case to make after missing four out of five Tests this year due to injury. With Sarfaraz Khan breathing down his neck for a spot in the middle-order, his task will be cut out. Similarly, Pant will have to fend off a credible challenge from Dhruv Jurel for the wicketkeeper’s role and reassert his indispensability as a left-handed, spin-bashing circuit-breaker.
Pant’s significance this Test season cannot be overstated, especially with the Test series Down Under looming large and his heroics at the Gabba in 2021-22 still the flavour of the storied rivalry.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill were India’s top run-scorers against England this year, amassing 712 and 452 runs, respectively, and the youth brigade could lead the charge against the spinners. Meanwhile, Rohit’s average against the tweakers has been more than 50 for the first time since 2019, and he will hope to continue setting the tone at the top.
If that goes pear-shaped, the lower-order spin-bowling all-rounders will be expected to lead the rescue act, as has been the case of late in home Tests.
Batting fulcrum: Virat Kohli’s improving batting average against spin makes his experience a crucial asset in the middle-order, particularly against formidable spinners like Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan. | Photo Credit: PTI
Ravindra Jadeja (41.20) and Axar Patel (39.60) boast of the third and fourth-highest batting averages at home in Tests since 2021, respectively, amongst batters who have played at least 10 innings. With Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav also in the mix, India’s spin selection could hinge on the prevalent batting conditions. However, overlooking the role of the pacers in Tests in India would be anachronistic, especially with a certain Jasprit Bumrah in the ranks. The fast-bowling enigma had 19 scalps in the England series, was joint-second in the wickets’ charts, and topped all the bowling averages with an astounding 16.89.
In pics | India’s first practice session at Chepauk
He will be supported by Mohammed Siraj, who is finding his stride in the longest format, as Mohammad Shami continues to be sidelined due to injury. Akash Deep is one of the five players who debuted in the England series and one of the three to be retained — alongside Sarfaraz and Jurel. Akash impressed with a three-for on debut in Ranchi and is coming off a nine-wicket haul in the Duleep Trophy. Perhaps the only surprise call-up was Yash Dayal, who has come a long way since being an unwanted appendage to Rinku Singh’s final-over six-hitting spree in the Indian Premier League.
The left-arm pacer is being groomed for a potential role in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and has been on the selectors’ radar since IPL 2024, where he was Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s highest wicket-taker and a key member of the franchise’s miraculous mid-season turnaround.
Though he has a limited First-Class experience of 24 matches, he picked up three crucial wickets in India B’s win over India A in the first round of the Duleep Trophy.
With Rohit (37), Kohli (35), Jadeja (35) and Ashwin (37) not getting any younger, workhorses Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane axed for the foreseeable future, and Bumrah’s fitness and all-format availability a priority for the management, a 10-Test season will be the ideal breeding ground for identifying the next core group, developing effective pace reserves, and perhaps even setting in motion a smooth succession plan.
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