Bangladesh Coach Chandika Hathurusinghe Praises Team Ahead of India Test Series

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe believes the current team is the most well-rounded he has seen in his two stints with the side. Bangladesh has shown great form before the Test series against India. On Thursday, they will play at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai after a historic series win against Pakistan.

Bangladesh swept the Test series with a 2-0 win, defeating Pakistan on their home ground. They hope for a similar result after losing the past three Tests against India. Hathurusinghe expects tougher competition from his team as they aim to keep their winning streak.

Hathurusinghe said, "I think this is probably the most well-rounded team that Bangladesh has produced in my previous time and this time. We're covering a lot of bases, we've got good fast bowlers, we've got a really experienced spin attack, and then the batting, we actually have good depth because of two reasons."

He added, "One is that two of our spinners [Shakib and Mehidy] are genuine batters who got Test hundreds, and then two of our wicketkeepers [Litton Das and Mushfiqur] are our main batters. So our balance of the team in this series is really, really good, and that gives us actually a lot more confidence that we can be competitive in this series."

Hathurusinghe feels the way the team played during the Pakistan series will boost their confidence. "[The win in Pakistan] certainly gives us a lot of confidence coming into this series. Not because of the outcome of the series, the way we played that series, the way we handled certain situations, we were behind the game in both Test matches, and then how we came back and then the people who contributed at different times gave us a lot of belief for this series," he noted.

India's Squad for the 1st Test Against Bangladesh

Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.

Bangladesh's Squad

Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Shakib Al Hasan, Nahid Rana, Mominul Haque, Litton Kumer Das, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Jaker Ali Anik, Taijul Islam, Shadman Islam.