Bangladesh must have gained some confidence and experience after showing fight in the first test match which they would like to in cash in the second test match to be played at Mirpur against the Number one ranked India starting 24th January 2010. Having said that it will not be an easy task for the Bangladesh to beat India with so much batsman looking in superb touch. Bangladesh bowlers performed exceptionally well in the first test match the culprit was their batsman who failed to take the initiative set by their bowlers after restricting India to 243. India will miss some of their key players but they will certainly be boosted by the return of MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh. India, for their part, are unlikely to be as sloppy as they were in Chittagong. Indian batsmen except Yuvraj Singh who manages just 12 and 25 runs in two innings are looked in good touch. Specially Gambhir and Tendulkar. Both will look forward to score a century to add another one to their tally before playing the big series against South Africa at home starting February 6th. Indian pacers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan also looking in good rhythm and that is good news for India as Sharma is more dangerous bowler when he bowls with his rhythm. Bangladesh batting will once again heavily rely on Tamim Iqbal, M.Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan. The key to scoring big will depend on how these three players perform with the bat for them. Watch out for Gautam Gambhir: What a player he is? He is now the New Wall of India. In last eighteen months or so he has shown to the world what he can do with bat, In his last 10 test matches he has scored more that 50 plus score in each game with five consecutive century to his name. He needs one more to equal the world record of Sir Donald Bradman. So it will be interesting to see how he cope up with the pressure put on him by many peoples to equal the record. Virendra Sehwag v Shakib Al Hasan: So far in two innings in the first test match Bangladesh Captain Shakib Al Hasan wins the battle. This must be playing in the mind of Sehwag and it will be interesting to see what tactics he applies while facing Shakib Al Hasan in the second test match at Mirpur. Pitch & Condition The pitch at Shere Bangla Stadium, Mirpur will be full of runs for the first three days. So team winning the toss would love to have bat first and put huge runs on the board. As the game progresses spinners will crucial role to play in this test match. With sunshine expected for next five days the seamers will have difficulty getting the movement they have enjoyed in the first test match. Teams S.Sreesanth and V.V.S Laxman already ruled out of the series because of injuries. However good news for team India is the lucky captain M.S.Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is fit and will play the second test match. M.Vijay is likely to take injured Laxman place that means Dinesh Karthik will have to sit out of this game. India is likely to go into the game with two spinners Harbhajan and P.Ojha (as per Dhoni preference). He preferred Ojha more than leg-spinner Amit Mishra. Bangladesh on the other hand with fewer options in their bag are likely to go in the crucial game with same team as in the first test match. Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 08:30 AM India Time) India Squad: V.Sehwag, G.Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, M.Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), H.Singh, A.Mishra, Z.Khan, Ishant Sharma. Bangladesh Squad: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Ashraful, Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Raqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain. Stats & Trivia So far India have 100% winning record at Dhaka. They have won all three matches they have played here and two of the matches they have won by an inning. Gautam Gambhir needs one more century to equal the world record of consecutive century in the six games, it is previously held by Sir Donald Bradman. |
