India opt to bowl in a home Test for the first time in 9 years

Overcast and rainy conditions in Kanpur have forced team India to opt to bowl first in a home Test for the first time in nine years. The last instance of India winning the toss and bowling first in a home Test was back in November 2015, when they fielded first against South Africa at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Incidentally, that particular fixture turned out to be a washout, with there being only 81 overs bowled in the entire Test.

Thanks to the conditions, skipper Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in opting to field. And he confirmed that for the second game running, his side will be playing three specialist seamers. Akash Deep, who impressed in the Chennai Test, has been rewarded for his showing. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel continue to warm the bench. 

“We are going 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,” Rohit said, before confirming that the hosts were going with an unchanged line-up.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, meanwhile, confirmed that there were two changes for the visitors: Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed out, Taijul Islam and Khaled Ahmed in. 

Unlike India, the Tigers are going with three spinners, with Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan complementing the left-arm spin of Taijul. 

India enter the Test with a 1-0 lead, and will be hoping to complete a clean sweep. 

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