India started this stretch needing five wins of the remaining 10 Tests to guarantee themselves a hat-trick of WTC finals next year.Now one win ticked, they need four more with the next nine matches scheduled against Bangladesh, New Zealand and Australia.
India are left with one match vs Bangladesh, followed by a three-match series against the Kiwis at home and a five-match away series against Australia.India will be looking to achieve at least three of the required four wins at home, before embarking to the tricky Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under in November.
From red to black – a big change
From a sporting, bouncing red-soil in Chennai, the second match moves to the black soil of Kanpur. The pitch is going to be completely opposite from the four-day action we witnessed in the first Test. With this change, a change in team composition for both the teams are on the cards – some forced, some tactical and some as part of the workload management.
Black soil pitch in Kanpur is reportedly going to be much lower in bounce than Chennai and a lot flatter, even though a rank-turner is not expected. Good news for batters and spinners for sure.
The bouncy pitch and overcast conditions forced both India and Bangladesh to use three seamers in the playing XIs in Chennai, which will most probably change to three-spinners attack in the northern part of India.
Will India rest Jasprit Bumrah?
There was always a call for workload management for India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, citing the long Test season. And it could be an opportunity for the team management to rest him from the second Test.
But the counterpoint to this decision is that the pacer looks hardly overworked in Chennai. He bowled just 11 overs in the first innings for his 4 for 50, and another 10 overs in the second innings. So, whether to rest him or keep him sharp and ready for the next challenge with more game time will be a point to ponder for the team think tank.
Kuldeep Yadav or Axar Patel?
A three-way spin attack means the Indian team will need to leave out a pacer to make the spot the third spinner. If management rests Bumrah, then a spot is already available, but if he plays then Akash Deep might have to sit out from the match.
Then it will be a fight between Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel for the third spinner’s spot.
Kuldeep has the edge here and could get the nod purely on form as he has taken 19 wickets in four Tests against England in India’s last series at home. And also because Axar’s all-round ability might not be required on a flat pitch in Kanpur, as Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are in excellent form with both bat and ball.
India’s probable playing XI for 2nd Test against Bangladesh:
- Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj