IND vs BAN, 2nd Test: India To Go For Kill Against Bangladesh As World Test Championship Battle Heats Up
NDTV
Stand-in skipper KL Rahul would be eager to overcome his lean patch as India are expected go for the kill in the second Test against Bangladesh, beginning InMirpur on Thursday, to strengthen their position in the World Test Championship.
Stand-in skipper KL Rahul would be eager to overcome his lean patch as India are expected go for the kill in the second Test against Bangladesh, beginning In Mirpur on Thursday, to strengthen their position in the World Test Championship. The race for the top-two spots in the WTC standings has become more interesting with India (55.77 PCT) moving up to the second position following South Africa's (54.55 PCT) heavy loss to Australia (76.92 PCT) in two-day Gabba Test.
The upcoming home series against Australia will be decisive in India's bid for a second straight WTC final but they also can't afford any slip-ups against Bangladesh, who showed plenty of fight in the first Test after a poor first innings with the bat.
With regular skipper Rohit Sharma yet to recover from his thumb injury, no changes are expected in the Indian playing eleven. The first Test presented a golden opportunity for the likes Shubman Gill and Kuldeep Yadav and they made it count.
Had Rohit been fit for the game, it would have been extremely difficult to drop Gill following his maiden Test hundred in Chattogram. However, that situation did not arise and Gill will be keen to cash in on another opportunity.
Rahul too would look to lead from the front after the disappointment of his two innings in the first Test. Like Chattogram, the pitch is expected to be slow and decent for batting, providing Rahul an ideal platform to get runs under his belt before the Australia series. It would be fair to say that Cheteshwar Pujara, who made a comeback with the one-off Test in England, has consolidated his number three position with a 90 and an unusually attacking 102 not out in the series-opener.
