Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl in the second Test against Bangladesh on Friday. The toss was delayed by nearly an hour due to rain in Kanpur.
After winning the toss, Rohit Sharma said, “We are going to bowl first. The pitch seems a bit soft, so we need to make early inroads, and our three seamers should capitalize on that. We didn’t start well with the bat in the first game, but we found a way to score, and the bowlers did their job. I expect no different here. We will be challenged, but we have the experience. Same team as the first Test.”
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto shared his thoughts at the toss, saying, “We’re happy to bat first; it was our plan anyway. As batters, if we get a good start, we need to capitalize on it. I hope our batters can put up a big score today. The wicket looks good for batting, though handling the new ball will be key. Two changes for us: Nahid and Taskin are out, while Taijul and Khaled come in.”
India leads the two-match Test series 1-0 after their remarkable 280-run victory in Chennai. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will look to bounce back and level the series. Rohit Sharma will aim to maintain or even improve India’s impressive 75% success rate at home in Test cricket.
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed.
