IND vs BAN: Ahead of the Bangladesh series, the Indian players are awaiting a test return after their long streak of not having a test played for long, as they played their last test before the T20 World Cup.
Indian selectors and the BCCI have asked all their players, even the likes of players on the international side like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Shreyas Iyer, and many more.
The BCCI has spared only India’s top four players, of whom Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have been rested from the Duleep Trophy participation. Firstly, Ravindra Jadeja, who was earlier picked for the Duleep trophy, has been withdrawn, though without a proper reason.
The pre-season though has been troublesome, as players like Mohammad Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, the T20I skipper, and wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan have all been dropped from the first round of the Duleep trophy season due to a potent injury.
From among these players, Indian selectors led by Ajit Agarkar will be choosing the squad, which they will probably do after the first round of the Duleep Trophy, ahead of India’s home series against Bangladesh and later New Zealand.
Many Test players other than players who have India’s central contract, like Jaiswal, Gill, Sarfaraz, Jurel, Akash Deep, Pant, Mukesh Kumar, and many such, have made their test appearances, while many like Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, and brilliant 22-year-old Tamil Nadu batter Sai Sudarshan are anticipated to make it to the Indian team.
Sudarshan recently had a season with the finest of forms in the County Championship with Surrey and is the most likely to be placed in India’s middle order. Bangladesh will be confident after their historic 2-0 victory over Pakistan on their soil, have risen to an all-time high WTC No. 4 position, and will look to capitalize in the Tests against India that begin at Chennai on the 19th of September.
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Shubman Gill made this tall claim before the Bangladesh series, and he has responded by saying that his performance in the longest format has not been convincing as even it has not been satisfying for him.
Gill said, “In Test cricket, my performance has not matched my expectations so far – but we are going to play 10 Test matches this season and when I look back after those 10 Tests, hopefully, my expectations will be matched.”
Gill’s form has been a concern for India across all formats since the World Cup 2023, while he was also dropped from the T20 World Cup squad for India. Now, he would be back with the test hopefully in the middle order as their no.3.