 "India vs Bangladesh: Pant set to return to playing XI as management debates three seamers or three spinners")
Indian men’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and coach Gautam Gambhir face the quandary of picking the best possible XI as Team India get ready to start its home season with the first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from 19 September. As per a report, the pitch in Chennai will be a red-soil track that will offer “quality bounce and carry” and will also “facilitate rever swing” in the match.
However, the Chennai pitch has a history of being spin-friendly, and the hot temperature in the city will only allow the tweakers to have a bigger say in the final result.
IND vs BAN: Schedule, squads, tickets, live streaming for Tests, T20Is
The pitch and weather conditions, however, add to Team India’s management’s headache as they get ready to pick the XI. The biggest question is should they pick three spinners or three pace bowlers?
Three spinners or three pacers?
As per a report in PTI, India are set to pick five bowlers with a combination of three spinners and two pacers. The three spinners would be Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav along with pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
IND vs BAN Test stats: Head-to-head record, leading run-scorer, highest wicket-taker and more
A different report in ESPNCricinfo, however, states that India could be tempted to play three pacers and two spinners with an eye on the future. India are without Mohammed Shami who is still recovering from Achilles heel surgery and with a five-match series scheduled in Australia later this year, the team management is looking to build a strong bench.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn such a scenario they could look to play three pacers with Akash Deep being the top contender. An extra pacer during the Bangladesh series or even against New Zealand next month will help India to prepare a potent pace attack even if Shami does not return in Australia.
Interestingly, the last time India played three pacers in a Test match at home was also against Bangladesh in Kolkata in 2019.
Axar to miss out, Pant to return
In both scenarios, Axar Patel it seems will miss out on a spot.
Rishabh Pant is set to return to the Test playing XI for the first time since December 2022. His last Test was also against Bangladesh in Mirpur before he met the car accident. Dhruv Jurel who made his Test debut earlier this year against England has done well so far with a fifty to his name but is set to make way for the experienced Pant.
Also set to drop out of the playing XI is Sarfaraz Khan as senior batter KL Rahul is back in the squad. Rahul also scored a fifty recently in the Duleep Trophy, while Sarfaraz managed a best of 46 in three innings.
India’s predicted playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav/Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
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