The BCCI announced the Indian squad for the first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Left-arm seamer Yash Dayal earned his maiden call-up, however, there were little to no surprises and most of the squad was on the expected lines. With the likes of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant returning, Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar were snubbed and Mukesh Kumar missed out as India are looking to groom a left-arm pacer.
The squad announcement saw three Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacers get picked for the Test series opener, a rarety in Test cricket given how infamous the team has been for its bowling resources. RCB, often criticised for picking pacers who are not good enough at death in the IPL, has groomed the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep while Dayal had a terrific outing in 2024 edition, a redemption season for him in the tournament.
"From being troll-ed to taking full con-trol, the story of RCB’s pace attack is a true testament to Playing Bold! Go well in the Test series, gentlemen. Let menace, redemption and consistency define you!," an RCB post read, which has gone viral.
Akash Deep, who impressed on his Test debut for India in Dharamsala, has kept his place after a fifer for India A in Duleep Trophy while Dayal pipped the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Khaleel Ahmed for the sole spot for a left-arm seamer. The BCCI is likely to manage the workload of Siraj, who didn't play the Duleep Trophy match and is likely to play on and off in the five Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India's squad for first Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal
