India are gearing up to face Bangladesh in the second Test at Green Park in Kanpur. The Indian team won the first Test against the Bangla Tigers in Chennai by a huge margin of 280 runs. The second game is set to take place from September 27 onwards in Kanpur.
Generally, a team does not make a change to the winning combination. But the teams take playing conditions into account and the same can happen in the second Test too. The pitch for the second pitch will be black soil and not the red soil pitch seen in Chennai.
The black soil surface will be flatter with low bounce. This does not call for three pacers as seen in the Chennai Test by both teams when the bounce was true. The teams will likely go with two pacers and add an extra spinner to their line-up.
India would likely rest one of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep from their line-up and bring in either of Kuldeep Yadav or Axar Patel. Resting Bumrah might not be a bad idea though as the Indian team has handled him with care very often. He was among the players not to play the Duleep Trophy when the majority of the probables were fighting for the places.
He was not part of the Zimbabwe of Sri Lanka white-ball series and has returned for the Tests against Bangladesh after winning the T20 World Cup 2024 in June. With India having a busy Test season ahead, including a crucial five-match Test series against Australia Down Under, Bumrah can be rested. Also, India are 1-0 up against Bangladesh and there was only a three-day gap between the end of the first Test and the start of the second one.
As for other players, the team might not make a change. Sarfaraz Khan might have to wait longer as Rohit Sharma has already backed KL Rahul, while Shubman Gill also hit a century in the first Test.
India's Probable XI for 2nd Test against Bangladesh:
Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav/Axar Patel, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
