Bangladesh bowling first in the first Test after India captain KL Rahul won the toss and predictably opted to bat at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Wednesday.
Bangladesh fielded three spinners and two pacers as captain Shakib Al Hasan who is allowed to play the game after proving his fitness, said he also would also love to bat first if he won the toss in a wicket that looked good for batting, reports BSS.
The home side handed a debut to Zakir Hasan who last week played a 173-run knock against India A to help Bangladesh A salvage a draw in a four-day game.
“We would have batted first. Looks to me a good wicket but history says that more wickets falls on the first day than the last day. Hopefully we can get some early wickets and put pressure on India,” Shakib said.
“We're playing a Test match after five months, that's a big gap but we've prepared well and hopefully we can put on a good show. This is an important series hopefully we can put some (WTC) points on the board.”
India stand in captain KL Rahul said the wicket looks good to bat on which prompted him to decide to bat first.
“Looks a good wicket, put runs on the board and hope that the wicket breaks, use the foot-marks later on and try and see if we can take 20 wickets,” said Rahul after the toss.
Rahul is leading the side in absence of Rohit Sharma who is out of the game after sustaining a left-thumb injury in the second ODI against Bangladesh. Apart from Rohit, India also lost some first choice players due to injury concern.
“There have been a few injuries, obviously we miss our captain Rohit and a few others but that gives opportunities to other guys. Everyone's played a little bit of cricket and they'll be excited to take on this challenge and contribute to the team.”
India fields three spinners and two pacers, expecting that the pitch will assist the spinners in the last couple of days.
Bangladesh : Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain.
India: Shubman Gill, KL Rahul(c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
