Bangladesh Become First Team To Choose Bowling In Chennai Test Since 1982

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bowl against India in the first Test of the two-match series at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday and became the first team to opt for bowling at the Chepauk after year 1982.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bowl against India in the first Test of the two-match series at MA Chidambaram Stadium, also renowned as Chepauk, here on Thursday, September 19, 2024.

Men In Blue have gone with three seamers in the likes of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who will be in the action for the first time after India's T20 World Cup triumph, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj and the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in their playing eleven.

The Chennai's iconic red-soil pitch has good grass cover on it and Bangladesh would want to take early advantage to boost their chances to control the game, having beaten Pakistan 2-0 in Pakistan earlier this month. Bangladesh too have opted for three pacers on what looks like a seam-friendly Chepauk pitch.

Notably, it is the first time in 21 Tests that a team opted to bowl after winning the toss at the Chepauk. The last time a side elected to bowl here was in 1982. The last time India played three quicks in a home Test was also against Bangladesh. They had Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami in their XI in both Tests against them in 2019 - in Indore and Kolkata (D/N) respectively.

This is just the ninth instance of a visiting team putting India in to bat first in a Test match in India. Six of the previous eight ended in draws, while Australia registered 10-wicket wins in the other two:

"I'd like to bowl first. There's moisture on the wicket and we want to make use of it. The pitch looks hard and there's moisture. The first session will be very good for the seamers. The way we played that series (against Pakistan), we are confident. This is a new series, we'll have to follow our processes. It's a good mixture of experience and youth. We will go with three seamers and two spin allrounders," Shanto said after winning the toss.

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma said that if he had won the toss, he would have bowled as well. "I would have done that as well (bowl first). Little soft, the pitch. It's going to be challenging conditions. We have prepared well, so we should back our potential and play the way we know. Looking at the 10 Test matches, every match is important. But we want to focus on what lies in front of us. We came here a week back, we had a good prep leading up to this one. We feel confident. Three seamers and two spinners - Bumrah, Akash Deep, Siraj, Ashwin and Jadeja," Rohit said.

Playing XI:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.

Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana.