India have won the toss and opted to bowl first in the second and final Test against Bangladesh. The toss was delayed due to overnight rain and it took place at 10 AM. Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in bowling first after winning the toss as India decided not to make any changes to their playing from the first Test.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh have made two changes to their playing XI from the opening game benching Nahid Rana, and Taskin Ahmed with Khaled Ahmed and Taijul Islam replacing the duo. There is also a possibility that this will be the last Test match for Shakib Al Hasan who confirmed on the eve of the game that he will be retiring from the format. He is willing to play the Mirpur Test against South Africa but it all depends on how safe it is for him in Bangladesh.
After winning the toss, Rohit Sharma cleared that the pitch is expected to be a bit soft and for the same reason he opted to bowl first. "The pitch seems a bit soft, so we have to make early inroads and we want our three seamers to make use of it. We didn't start well with the bat in the first game, but we found a way to score and the bowlers did the job. I expect no different here (fight from Bangladesh), we will be challenged but we have the experience to bounce back," he said.
Interestingly, the Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto wanted to bat first and said, "Happy to bat first, we wanted to bat anyway. As a batter if we get a start we have to score well. Hope our batters can score big today. Looks like a good wicket to bat on. New ball batting will be key though."
Playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das(w), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed
More to follow...
