Ending all speculations, Shakib Al Hasan is declared fit to bowl as Bangladesh vow to draw the Test series by winning the second and final game, starting on today at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
It will be Bangladesh's last International match in this year, which they began with a memorable Test win on New Zealand soil. Can Bangladesh have a fitting end to the year? Bangladesh indeed are determined to make the year memorable one.
After winning the ODI series by 2-1, expectation was high on Bangladesh for the Test series, despite being vulnerable in this format. The Tigers appeared to go in right direction when they reduced India to 48-3 in the morning session of the opening day of the first Test but the sub-continent powerhouse recovered from the early collapse to finally win the Test by 188 runs.
Unlike the Chattogram, which eased up as the days progressed, the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla pitch is believed to provide rage turner and variable bounce which made Shakib's presence in the team as a bowler extremely crucial.
While Shakib is back as bowler, Bangladesh will miss the service of fast bowler Eabdot Hossain who is unarguably the best Test bowler for the side at this moment. Ebadot also couldn't bowl in the second innings of the first Test due to his side strain. Taskin Ahmed however will replace him.
Overall Bangladesh's Test statistics is utterly disappointing. After playing 135 matches, they won just 16 and lost a staggering number of 101 matches. The rest of the 18 matches ended in a draw, most of which came, thanks to rain. Bangladesh has not won a Test at home since February 2020 and has never beaten India anywhere in 12 matches in this format. They drew twice but that too courtesy to the rain.
While Bangladesh's target is to snap the losing streak to make the series this bilateral series a memorable one for them, India will look to strengthen their chances of reaching the World Test Championship final. After winning the first Test, they moved to second position behind Australia with seven wins in 13 matches.
If Mirpur pitch remains same, as it played in the past, India's bowling will be quite handy. Nevertheless India will miss the service of the regular captain Rohit Sharma in this match too due to his left thumb injury which he sustained during the ODI series. KL Rahul will lead the side as usually as India is unlikely to bring up any changes to the squad.
Going by their Test form, India however are favourite to sweep the Test series, winning the second and series-match match too and they need to win it if they want to play their second consecutive World Test Championship Final.
