Bangladesh did not have a bad start after winning the toss and batting in Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla. But the problem started to break the opening pair of 39 runs. Nazmul Hossain Shanto scored 24 and the centurion of the last match Zakir Hasan returned for 15 runs. Mominul Haque, who came down to three, picked up the fifty after a long time in 78 balls. Captain Shakib Al Hasan became the victim of Umesh Yadav for 16 runs. Liton Das still fails to make the innings big. Ravichandran Ashwin scored 25 runs before being caught in the spin.

Umesh Yadav sent back another in-form batsman Mehidy Miraz for 15 runs. Nurul Hasan Sohan failed as usual (6). Mominul Haque was fighting at one end. Ashwin returned to him as the ninth batsman for a personal 84 runs. His 157-ball innings included 12 fours and a six. Bangladesh’s first innings ended in 73.5 overs. Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav took four wickets each. Jaydev Unadkat took 2 wickets.

Cheteshwar Pujara played two good knocks while Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and R Ashwin also did their job with the bat. Kuldeep Yadav had an excellent all-round outing with Mohammed Siraj critical in the first innings and Axar Patel picking up the key wickets in the second. The Chattogram pitch eased up after a tough first day and became an excellent one to bat on, testing the bowlers’ stamina and persistence. The Shere Bangla National Stadium, however, is known for its raging turners and might demand a different set of skills, particularly from the batters.

India’s bowling will be quite handy here. Siraj may get some lateral movement but the bulk of the workload may fall on Ashwin, Kuldeep, and Axar. Where they had to be up for bowling long spells in Chattogram, they can expect a little more assistance here.
Bangladesh faces an uphill task. Many believe their greatest challenge is to motivate themselves to be more consistent. Still, there were certainly moments in Chattogram when they fell short of India in the technical and tactical departments too. The likes of Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim have to lead them out of this rut. Zakir Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto have to follow up their good work from Chattogram too, with India likely to have come up with new plans for the former, who made a century on debut.

In encouraging news for Bangladesh, their fast-bowling coach Allan Donald said on the eve of the game that Shakib Al Hasan – who seemed likely to play as a specialist batter due to shoulder and rib cage injuries – would bowl* in Mirpur. It ensures they will be able to stick with the same team composition they used in Chattogram.

Whichever way it goes, expect a fast-moving contest in Mirpur with wickets falling in clusters.
Form guide
Bangladesh: LLLLD (last five Tests, most recent first)
India: WLWWL

In the Spotlight
He doesn’t play often, but on a Chattogram pitch that offered slow turn, Kuldeep Yadav was a handful in his first Test after nearly two years. He ran through Bangladesh’s middle order and took 5 for 40 in the first innings, and played a key supporting role in the second with three more wickets. Kuldeep is expected to come into the game even more in Mirpur, where the ball also tends to keep low, especially with his ability to change trajectory subtly. Kuldeep’s other advantage is the total lack of practice Bangladesh’s batters get against left-arm wrist spin, even in the nets.

Zakir Hasan made a fairytale entrance at the highest level with a debut Test century in Chattogram. Last month, he wasn’t originally picked in Bangladesh A squad, but a few strokes of luck and a backs-to-the-wall 173 in Cox’s Bazar put him on the selectors’ radar. The fourth-innings century in Chattogram has sealed his spot for the Test, and a bit of consistency will cement a long-term place.
Team news
Taskin Ahmed is likely to replace Ebadot Hossain, who is out with a back injury. No other changes are expected, with Shakib set to bowl.
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 2 Zakir Hasan, 3 Yasir Ali, 4 Liton Das, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Ebadot Hossain, 11 Khaled Ahmed

**KL Rahul took a blow to the hand while batting in the nets on the eve of the match, and while batting coach Vikram Rathour suggested he hadn’t suffered a serious injury, there is a chance he may not be fit to play on Thursday, leaving India without both their first-choice openers – Rohit Sharma has already been ruled out. If Rahul misses the Test match, Abhimanyu Easwaran could come in for his Test debut, with Cheteshwar Pujara taking over the captaincy.

India (probable): 1 Shubman Gill, 2 KL Rahul (capt)/Abhimanyu Easwaran, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Shreyas Iyer, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Pitch and conditions
The pitch at the Shere Bangla National Stadium will assist spinners for most of the Test, with run-scoring likely to be at its easiest on the first day. Expect the team winning the toss to bat first, and avoid having to bat in the fourth innings. The weather is expected to be dry.
Stats and trivia
Quotes

“Any selectors here? (Laughs) If I am talking out of the room a little bit, it will be the same three spinners and welcoming back Taskin. Khaled as well. Sorry to the selectors but I am talking out of the room a little bit. That’s what I can see happening. Good news is that Shakib is good to go. Looking at the pitch, I think he will very much come into play.”
Bangladesh fast-bowling coach Allan Donald spills the beans on their combination.

However, after overcoming all the signals, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer’s bat turned India around. After fifty, both of them are taking the innings forward. At the time of writing this report, Pujara is on 74 off 174 balls and Shreyas is on 66 off 129 balls.

The opening pair was broken by 41 runs. Taijul hit the pair. Shubman Gill’s wicket was picked up with a maiden in his fourth over. Shubman paddled the fuller-length ball made by Taijul. However, the bat was not in the bat, Yasir Ali ran from the first slip and caught the ball.

India won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test of the series. The Tigers landed at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram at 9:30 am.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Zakir Hasan is making his debut for Bangladesh on the field. He is the country’s 101st Test cricketer. Earlier, Nayeem Sheikh was the 100th Test cricketer.

Bangladesh XI: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Zakir Hasan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Yasir Ali, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Nurul Hasan (wicketkeeper), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Ebadat Hossain, Khaled Ahmed.

India XI: Kl Rahul (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.

In the last few days, Zakir Hasan has been playing with dominance in domestic cricket.

In the second innings of the first Test against India ‘A’, he played brilliant innings of 173 runs. Apart from this, he also got runs in the second Test. The reward for such a rhythm is the Test debut.

At the press conference the day before the start of the match ( yesterday), head coach Russell Domingo’s face was heard praising Zakir. He also compared this batsman to Tamim Iqbal.

In his international career, Zakir Hasan played only one T20 match for Bangladesh. Four years ago, against Sri Lanka in 2018, he scored 10 runs. Later, the left-handed batsman was not seen in the national team.

Head coach Russell Domingo gave this information at the pre-match press conference. In the second ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on December 7, a bouncer from Indian pacer Umran Malik hit Shakib on the shoulder. Then his X-ray was done. Nothing was caught in it. However, the injury has fallen in place of the injury. Since then, Shakib was feeling pain in practice. He was again taken to a hospital in Chittagong today for a scan without reducing the pain.

After returning to the field from the hospital, Shakib batted in the nets for half an hour. Looking at his batting, it seems that the injury is not serious. Regarding the captain, Russell Domingo said, “We are still monitoring him. A decision will be taken this afternoon. I want to make sure he’s okay. He is still suffering a little with his ribs and shoulders. But hopefully, he will feel good playing some balls (in the nets). Let’s see how it goes in the afternoon. ‘

On the other hand, pacer Taskin Ahmed is also recovering from the injury. He has been given some plans for a workload from the team. If he can complete them, he will only be seen in the first Test. However, Domingo said that he is not willing to take any risk with Taskin, ‘I will not take the risk with Taskin in the first Test. He returned after a break and had to take an injection. Bowling for one-and-a-half days in such conditions in Chittagong, may not be good for him. He will be rested for the first match. ‘

So Shakib went to the hospital today to check whether there is any problem with the muscles.

In the second ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on December 7, a bouncer from Indian pacer Umran Malik hit Shakib on the shoulder. Then his X-ray was done. Nothing was caught in it. However, the injury has fallen in place of the injury. Since then, Shakib was feeling pain in practice. He has been taken to a hospital in Chattogram again today for a scan without reducing the pain.

Due to this pain, Shakib could not bat and bowl even after coming to the practice of the Bangladesh team at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Monday. He unveiled the Trophy of the Test series only with Indian captain LOKESH Rahul. Even today, he first went to the hospital without coming to the field and practicing. It is to be noted that the first test of the two-match series will start on Wednesday, December 14 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

According to the press release, pacer Mohammad Shami and all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja has been dropped from the Test series. Abhimanyu Iswaran has been called up to the Test team instead of Rohit. Ishwaran is in Chittagong to play two four-day matches against Bangladesh ‘A’ team. India ‘A’ captain was also in team practice today.

Navdeep Saini and Sourav Kumar got places on the Test team instead of Shami and Jadeja. Left-handed pacer Jaydev Unadkat has also joined the team. Lokesh Rahul has been given the captaincy in the first Test which will start on December 14 in Chittagong. Cheteshwar Pujara has been given the responsibility of Rahul’s deputy in Tests.

Tamim Iqbal has already been ruled out of the ODI series due to a groin injury. Tamim Iqbal, who could not play in the ODI series due to injury, will not be able to play in the first Test. Mustafizur Rahman is also not in the squad for the first Test.

Experienced batters Mushfiqur Rahim, Yasir Ali, and Taskin Ahmed have returned to the team. Former captain Mominul Haque has got a chance in the Test team despite not doing well in domestic cricket.

Bangladesh Squad: Mahmudul Hasan, Nazmul Hossain, Mominul Haque, Yasir Ali, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Liton Das, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Shariful Islam, Zakir Hasan, Rezaur Rahman, Anamul Haque Bijoy.