Varun Chakaravarthy makes his return; India opt to field in Gwalior

Mayank Yadav is set to make his international debut for India in the first T20I against Bangladesh in Gwalior on Sunday (October 6). The right-arm seamer from Delhi who impressed everyone with his pace in the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) received his debut cap by Murali Kartik before the toss. 

India won the toss and opted to field first. 

In the pre-match presser, skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that Mayank is fit and could be an X-factor for India with his pace. 

Pace-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, is the second debutant of the day for the Men in Blue. 

Varun Chakaravarthy also marks his comeback, playing ahead of Ravi Bishnoi as the only specialist spinner. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson was picked as the wicketkeeper batter over Jitesh Sharma and is listed to open the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma. Tilak Varma and Harshit Rana are the other two players on the bench. 

Bangladesh are fielding three frontline seamers — Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam. They also have three spin bowling options in Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan and Rishad Hossain.

Playing XIs

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav ( c ), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav.

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto ( c ), Litton Das (wk), Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mahmudullah, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam

What did the captains say

Suryakumar Yadav: “We'll look to bowl first. Looks humid, don't think the wicket will change later on. Always a great feeling coming back home and playing in home conditions. We are really excited about that. There's a lot of talent involved in the group. The energy is great and most importantly, the guys are keen to learn. That's a great thing. The stadium looks beautiful, the crowd here looks lovely, very excited to play here.”

Najmul Shanto: “It's a pretty new side. A couple of guys are coming for the T20s, I hope they do something special in the series. Last couple of months, they have worked hard at home. Looks very fresh, I would have bowled first as well. Looks like a good wicket, I hope the openers will do something good. Three seamers and two spinners.”

Conditions 

This is the first fixture in Gwalior’s Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium. No international or domestic fixture has been played here before.

Abhinav Mukund, part of the broadcasting team, mentioned in the pitch report: 

"Dimensions - 64 metres and 65 metres square boundaries, 74 metres straight down the ground. Looks like a typical central Indian wicket and it is a black soil surface, but it is laid in with grass on top. The grass looks quite dry. The pitch itself looks quite firm. There is no sample size because this is the first international game being played here. The local T20 league that happened a couple of months ago - there were lots of runs on offer. Teams were scoring above 200 and that's what you'd think when you look at this surface. Lots of fours and sixes. In those 12 games, teams batting second won 8 out of the 12. The curator spoke to me and said the last four days there's been no dew at all. It could be a brave decision to bat but considering it's a fresh pitch, teams would love to bowl first."

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