CHENNAI, India (AP) — Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss on Thursday and decided to send India in to bat in the first cricket test.
India was playing a test for the first time since March when it beat England 4-1 in a five-match series in India. It is currently at the top of the World Test Championship rankings and could reach the final for a third consecutive time.
It was new coach Gautam Gambhir’s first test assignment for India. He had led India in a white-ball series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. Star players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin are all back in action, and Sharma is captain once again.
Rishabh Pant makes a comeback to test cricket for India after a car crash in December 2022. He had last played a test match against Bangladesh that same month, and returned to professional cricket earlier this year in the IPL T20 tournament.
India has opted for a three-two combination in its bowling attack — Bumrah leads the pace attack with Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep, who had debuted against England in Ranchi. Ashwin combines with Ravindra Jadeja as the two frontline spinners.
Bangladesh has also gone with a similar combination, picking three pacers in Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana. All-rounders Shakib al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz will lead the spin combination.
Bangladesh is fourth in the World Test Championship table after beating Pakistan 2-0 at home.
The second Bangladesh-India test will be played in Kanpur and begins on Sept. 27, with three Twenty20 matches to follow.
__
Lineups:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.
Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana.
___
AP cricket:
