🏏 Bangladesh tour of India 2024: 2nd Test - BD vs IND - Day 5🏏

Match Discussion

Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#1

🏏 Bangladesh tour of India 2024: 2nd Test from 27 September to 1st October 2024 at Green Park, Kanpur at 9:30AM IST🏏

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For 26 minutes on Thursday, in the conference room of Green Park Stadium, the attention was firmly on Shakib Al Hasan. The veteran Bangladesh all-rounder casually dropped details of his conversation with the board chief and the selectors to put an end to his Test career. The country's most decorated cricketer desires to have a swansong at home in Mirpur, but given the political conditions, that may be fraught with risk. The Kanpur Test, starting on Friday, could therefore very well be his last.

While there is uncertainty on whether Shakib will be bringing the curtains down on his Test career at Green Park or not, Kuldeep Yadav, another left-arm spinner on the other side would be awaiting the chance to play his first international game at home in his seven-year-long career.

For either of them to hope for a grand occasion - farewell or welcome - on the expected spin-friendly track of Green Park, they would have to pray that there is ample counter-measures in place by the state association for the predicted rains over the next three days.

The ground of many historic events in Indian cricket, Green Park wears the look of a quintessential Indian stadium from the 1990s without carrying its charm. A stand that was under question for holding big crowds getting late permissions, practice nets in touching distance to the boundary ropes, floodlights that gave away the last time India played a Test at the venue.

Countering the allegations, the venue director claims that the ground is all fit and ready to host the second Test against Bangladesh, with the required clearances in place and record crowd expected.

The shortcomings of the venue is not a secret even for the hosts - Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association - who have in recent years preferred to host the more high-profile games in the newer venue in the state - Lucknow's Ekana Stadium, which among many modern-day enhancements also boasts of a superior drainage system.

A brief drizzle of eight minutes had rendered the ground unplayable for an entire day in a Duleep Trophy contest seven years ago in Kanpur. But Green Park's venue director is convinced that they are prepared to counter the challenge of frequent drizzles that are predicted over the next few days: the tarpaulin sheets that cover nearly the entire ground, two super-soppers and a self-certified statement of quality of the drainage system.

But that's not the only challenge they are up against. The exterior walls of the stadium complex flaunting ads of paan masala brands and the accompanying testimony of the product splattered in a shade of deep red are being painted white. Only days after protests from a right-wing outfit demanding no-play with Bangladesh were quelled, there is a monkey attack in the stadium that they are out to deal with. "No need to worry about the monkey," the venue director assured and added in jest, "We have called langurs to deal with them."

As the grand vision of playing the 'Shine Green Park' Test was laid out, a lot of table-thumping by the organisers followed, a louder 'thumping taaliyan ho jaaye' was appealed for when Rajiv Shukla's contribution to Kanpur cricket was hailed. Disappointment was expressed at being questioned over the preparedness to host a cricket match, and an appeal was made to bring more crowds in for the match - only the second Test in eight years at the venue.

The scheduled five-day contest is not merely a cricket match for him, it's the 'pride of Kanpur' he confesses. Families of the martyrs from in and around the city would be invited and felicitated. A tree would be planted in honour of each of them for their sacrifice to make 'Green Park even greener'.

"This Test match will be played on the theme of 'Shine Green Park,' 'Shine Kanpur," the director explained of the shenanigans. "This match is about the vikaas[development] of Green Park, the vikaas of Kanpur," he announced before flaunting the details of the record ticket sales. "We've sold more tickets than the previous time. This time, the ticket sales are worth INR 1.15 Crore, last time it was INR 93 lakh."

All the claims would be put to Test, starting Friday, when Bangladesh, amidst their own set of cricketing struggles, would look to level the series against the ruthless Indian side. The focus may be stolen by the cricket, if not entirely by how Shakib and Kuldeep fare in what could be a momentous game for both of them. And if that's where the spotlight entirely is despite the likelihood of rain offering ample time to sit back and reflect, it would speak well for the cricketers, for the stadium, for the organisers and largely for Test cricket.

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Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#2


In the spotlight: Shubman Gill and Shakib Al Hasan

Shubman Gill knows his ceiling. Even after scoring 452 runs with two hundreds in the home series against England earlier this year, he recently said he was yet to fulfil his expectations as a Test player. Gill got out for a duck in the first innings of the Chennai Test against Bangladesh but scored a stroke-filled unbeaten 119 in the second. Given India are to face tougher opponents in the coming months - New Zealand and Australia - Gill would be keen to fine-tune his game at No. 3.

When is Shakib Al Hasan not in the spotlight? While batting in Chennai, he was seen biting a black strap, wrapped around his neck, to keep his head from falling over. When it was time to bowl, there were murmurs about his workload, ineffectiveness and discomfort with the spinning finger. And after Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe confirmed Shakib's availability for the second Test, he dropped a bombshell about his future on the eve of the match.

Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#3

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Team News:

India: Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah opted to stay out of the optional practice session a day ahead of the game. India might look to play three spinners, which could lead to the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav at the expense of a pacer

Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj/Jasprit Bumrah

Bangladesh: The visitors didn't get to practise a day ahead of the game owing to rain. On Wednesday, Shakib had two sessions in the nets, but combined to bat barely 10 deliveries due to an undisclosed discomfort. The coach had, however, assured that there had been no report from the team physio to suggest that he would be unavailable for the Test. Meanwhile, Bangladesh might also look to include an additional spinner.

Probable XI: Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed/Nahid Rana, Taijul Islam

Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#4

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Pitch and conditions: Slow and low bounce?

The red-soil pitch in Chennai had decent bounce for both seamers and spinners in the first Test. Kanpur will be different. The two pitches being considered for the match are black-soil surfaces. They are likely to be flatter, with lower bounce, and are expected to become slower as the Test progresses. All that could change if it rains as forecasted, and bad light could become a factor too towards the end of each day.

Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#5

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Stats and trivia: Jadeja double on the cards

  • For the first time in their Test history, India have more wins (179) than losses (178).
  • Jadeja is one short of becoming the seventh Indian to take 300 Test wickets.
  • When Jadeja gets there, he will also complete the double of 3000 runs and 300 wickets. If he does it in Kanpur, in his 74th Test, he will be the second fastest to do so after Ian Botham (72).
  • Virat Kohli is 129 short of 9000 Test runs.
  • Taijul is five short of 200 Test wickets. Only Shakib (242) has more Test wickets for Bangladesh.
Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#6

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What they said:

"In this Test match, if we can score 350 or somewhere there, I think that will be a huge improvement. 350 to 400 in the first innings will give us a lot of confidence and boost our team" - Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh all-rounder

"I don't know which surface we are going to play on yet. But both the pitches look pretty good. Kanpur is often known to have good pitches. I am not sure about the bounce yet. With the conditions and the forecast, it is going to be interesting as to how when we turn up to go in the morning, the conditions are. A lot will depend on that. It is too early for us to judge and decide or have any sort of thought process on the pitch or the conditions" - Abhishek Nayar, India's assistant coach

Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#7

Both the teams may have moved on from Chennai after a whopping win, but they seem to have taken the overcast weather along with them. The news from the venue is that there was rain overnight and it's overcast this morning. Fingers crossed we start on time. There is rain forecast for at least the first three days of the Test match and that could add to the intrigue surrounding the team combination.

Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#8

The Green Park last hosted a Test in 2021, when New Zealand hung on to a battling draw. There is a fair amount of mystery on the surface to be used today. Even so, the spotlight was not much on the pitch as it was on a certain Shakib Al Hasan. He announced that he is done with T20Is and expressed desire to finish his Test career in Mirpur next month. The Bangladesh Cricket Board, though, said it cannot guarantee Shakib's security for Bangladesh's home Tests against South Africa, and it could well be that this Kanpur Test could be his last.

Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#9

"Both super-soppers pressed into service to dry the outfield. Ground staff are working on the pitch and the run-up area from the Press Box end," pings Daya Sagar from the ground. Let's talk a bit more about India now.

Savera84 thumbnail
Posted: 7 days ago
#10

The weather is iffy for the first half of the game with some rain forecast and things are gloomy at the moment

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