India is looking to emulate England’s attacking approach in Test cricket when they take on Bangladesh in a two-match series starting on Chattogram on Wednesday.
KL Rahul will be in charge of the India squad as captain Rohit Sharma is usually out with a finger injury. India had hoped he would return for the second test at Mirpur, which started on December 22.
India are currently fourth in the World Test Championship table and have six matches remaining in this cycle – two against Bangladesh and four against Australia – to climb into the top two and qualify for the final. .
What makes it difficult for India is the absence of a number of star players. Apart from Sharma, India was without pioneers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
Also, the team heads into the Test series after losing 2-1 to ODI Bangladesh – the team’s first loss to the Tigers in seven years in any format.
Despite the odds, captain Rahul says India will take an aggressive approach during this short series.
“We’re not going to go there with a set mindset… we’re going to go out there and try to be aggressive and get results,” Rahul said.
“The game is played over five days, so it’s important to break it down into small goals and try to achieve them. One thing is for sure, you will see a lot of aggressive cricket from us. »
Ben Stokes’ English side were the first to practice attacking streaks in Test cricket, as evidenced by their recent Test series win in Pakistan, where they smashed over 500 runs in 75 overs on day one in Rawalpindi.
Kishan and Kohli took the lead in the third ODI.
India will be tempted to follow a similar philosophy. Rahul expects right-hand man Virat Kohli to be in good spirits after the former captain turned century in his third ODI victory.
“He is in good form, he did some really good things for us in T20 cricket and recently scored a penny against Bangladesh in ODIs. So obviously he will gain confidence in the test matches as well,” added Rahul.
Unskilled batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran replaced Sharma in the squad for the first Test, while Navdeep Saini and Saurabh Kumar were named to replace the injured Shami (shoulder) and Jadeja (knee).
Bangladesh tackler Taskin Ahmed said the team’s bowling unit must step up their game to take wickets on level courts.
“A quick pitcher ideally wants to play on the top of the green,” says the 27-year-old. “The conditions are not in our hands. We have slow and flat tracks in South Africa and New Zealand.
“We have to make ourselves very skilled so that we can play well in all types of goals. Great pitchers also get quintuplets on flat runs. We need to focus on improving ourselves rather than looking at conditions. »
