IND vs BAN: Test of KL Rahul's captaincy as India aim for WTC final qualification

In the last year, KL Rahul has not been able to leave much impact with his captaincy. The Indian Cricket Board will decide on making him captain in the future based on his performance in the upcoming series. 

The Indian team is set to clash with Bangladesh in the high-stakes two-match series, the result of which will have an impact on India's chances for the World Test Championship final qualification.

India are currently fourth in the WTC table behind Australia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. The only way of qualifying for the final in June is to straightaway win both the Tests against Bangladesh and then all four at home against Pat Cummins' Australia to eliminate any ifs and buts.

The visitors will start as overwhelming favourites in the Test format, in which Bangladesh is yet to beat India but the absence of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja could hurt the side.

The Jadeja-Ashwin duo, at least against lesser Test nations on sub-continental tracks could be lethal but Axar Patel has done his hard yards over the past two seasons as the second-choice left-arm spinner.

As many as 10 Indian players, if all are fit, select themselves in the playing XI and the most important call that the two Rahuls -- skipper KL and head coach Dravid -- need to make is about the fifth specialist bowler -- a third pacer or a third spinner.
Whether India will field a third-choice specialist spinner in wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav or slow left-arm orthodox Saurabh Kumar is there to be seen.

Saurabh, who has been a star performer for India A team in the recently concluded two-Test series against Bangladesh A with 15 wickets, would feel that he has made his case for a Test Cap in at least one of the two games.

Rahul's test as a leader:

Rahul has played only two Test matches in 2022 so far. He has scored only 80 runs in four innings of these two matches at an average of 20. Rahul's performance in the limited overs format has declined in the recent past. He has added 251 runs in 9 innings of 10 ODIs in 2022 at an average of 27.88. In order to impress the selectors, he needs to showcase an exceptional batting performance in the upcoming Test series.

Rahul will have young Shubman Gill for the company with Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer manning the middle order.

Rishabh Pant will be back in what could safely be termed his favourite format where his uncluttered batting has been a delightful spectacle for the Indian fans.

In the bowling department, Umesh Yadav, a master at his craft on barren sub-continental tracks will have Mohammed Siraj, Ashwin, and Axar Patel for company.

Meanwhile, pacer Jaydev Unadkat is stuck in India as his visa papers are still not ready, according to BCCI sources.

The 31-year-old domestic doyen will not arrive here in time for the first Test even if his visa issues are sorted out.

As far as the Bangladesh team is concerned, it will be keen to change its dismal winless record against India over the past 22 years.

In the traditional format, Bangladesh has never had the bowling resources to trouble teams regularly even when they have played at home. Pacers Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, and Shoriful Islam along with spinners Shakib and Taijul Islam would love to alter the script.

But they do have a steady batting line-up for home conditions with skipper Shakib having 4000 plus runs under his belt. Add Mushfiqur Rahim's tally of 5000 plus runs and another former skipper Mominul Haque's 3500 plus aggregate, the batting does have a solid look.

Teams
India: KL Rahul (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Saurabh Kumar, Kona Bharat, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran.

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Litton Das (wk), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mominul Haque, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanta, Rejaul Rahaman Raja, Zakir Hasan (wk), Nurul Hasan (wk), Yasir Ali