Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai
India broke a pattern in the first Test against Bangladesh here at Chepauk. For the first time in five years, they went with three fast bowlers in a home Test match. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep formed the pace trio. Bangladesh, too, opted for a three-pronged pace attack, with Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana in their playing XI.
The last time India played three fast bowlers in a home Test was against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in 2019. It was a pink-ball, day-night Test, played on a green top. Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami were the fast bowlers, and together they had 19 wickets in the game.
The Chepauk pitch doesn’t have grass cover. But it is firm, offering good pace and carry to start with. In the fourth over, Rohit Sharma had a close shave when he missed a nip-backer from Mahmud. The ball hit him on the front pad and ball-tracking showed it was clipping the bails. The India captain survived on umpire’s call. Extra bounce saved him.
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Rohit was out in Mahmud’s next over, as the ball seamed away and took the outside edge to Najmul Hossain Shanto at second slip.
The red-soil pitch here will not break quickly. Still, the hosts playing three seamers was a bit unexpected. Of late, good pitches are being laid out – instead of rank turners – for home Tests. It was a case against England earlier this year as well. But India went with three spinners in all five matches. England’s weakness against the turning ball was taken into consideration. Bangladesh batting, on the other hand, traditionally hasn’t been very comfortable against quality pace.
Shanto’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss was down to overcast conditions and the moisture on the surface. They made a good start by taking three quick wickets. Rohit, too, said he would have fielded first.
Net sessions sometimes can be misleading in terms of predicting the playing XI. Two days before the match, Deep had an extended nets session. But the Bengal seamer replacing Kuldeep Yadav looked a little far-fetched at the time. The Indian team management, however, had a plan and they stuck to it.
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