A little over a year ago, Yash Dayal was hammered for five sixes in a row by Rinku Singh in an IPL game. Dayal lost his place in the Gujarat Titans side and was released by the franchise ahead of the 2024 season. On Sunday, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee picked the left-arm seamer for the first Test against Bangladesh.
Dayal’s comeback from a serious low speaks volumes for his character and resolve, the way he bounced back in this year’s IPL, playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. With regards to the longer format, he was rewarded for his good show for India B in their Duleep Trophy match against India A.
Dayal, picked four wickets in the match, including 3/50 in the second innings. It helped India B win the game by 76 runs. Actually, the selectors wanted a left-arm pacer in the 16-member squad and the contest was between Dayal, Khaleel Ahmed and Arshdeep Singh. The 26-year-old from Uttar Pradesh made the cut.
Dayal is no mug in red-ball cricket. He has 76 wickets in 24 first-class matches at an average of 28.89. It is very unlikely that he would be in the playing XI in the first Test, but the selectors want to have a fast-bowling pool for the five-Test series in Australia in the winter and Dayal is someone they want to keep an eye on.
Another pacer, Akash Deep, is doing no harm to his chances of cementing his place as the team’s fourth seamer. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami (he will return to competitive cricket in the Ranji Trophy in October) and Mohammed Siraj are the side’s three frontline fast bowlers. As for Deep, he made a serious impression on his Test debut against England earlier this year, when Bumrah was rested. The Bengal quick returned with a nine-wicket match haul for India A in the Duleep Trophy fixture against India B.
There was speculation over whether Bumrah would be rested for the Bangladesh series. India’s bowling royalty will play the first Test. It needs to be seen if he plays the second as well. India will play two Tests against Bangladesh – in Chennai and Kanpur from September 19 and September 27 respectively.
The rest of the squad sort of picked itself. After skipping the home Test series against England due to personal reasons, Virat Kohli has returned to the side. KL Rahul, who picked up a quadriceps injury after the first Test against England and missed the next four, has been included as well.
Rishabh Pant, fresh from a half-century in the Duleep Trophy game, has returned to the Test fold. The wicketkeeper-batsman last played Test cricket in December 2022.
Sarfaraz Khan has rightly been persisted with, earning his selection ahead of Shreyas Iyer.
India’s squad for the 1st Test of the Bangladesh Test series: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal