Mehidy’s batting, Nahid Rana’s pace & other threats India will need to be wary of

The one-sided nature of the rivalry between India and Bangladesh in Tests (IND W11 D2 L0 in 13 meetings) meant that, when the schedule for the two-Test series was announced, many considered the series to be a write-off in India’s favour.

But the Tigers’ sensational whitewash of Pakistan has added a whole new dynamic to the forthcoming series. 

India are still very much overwhelming favourites heading into the two Tests, but Bangladesh are no longer being taken lightly anymore. There is a strong expectation that the Tigers will push India to the limit, and the visitors themselves have now started to believe that they can, at the very least, take something from one of the two games in the series.

So, given Bangladesh are capable of causing a lot of damage, what exactly are the things that India will need to be wary of?

Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das and the Rahim-Litton partnership

Since the start of 2022 in Tests, two Bangladesh batters have managed to score over 1,000 runs: Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das. While Rahim has scored his runs at an average of 51.80, Litton has averaged 44.51 — which is outstanding for a wicketkeeper. 

There have been 14 Test tons scored by Bangladesh batters in the last 2.5 years, and these two are responsible for seven of them. 

Both Rahim and Litton played their hand in the 2-0 whitewash over Pakistan. 

While Rahim’s marathon 191 paved the way for victory in the first Test, Litton’s 138 in the second Test helped the Tigers stage a near-impossible turnaround: from 26/6, the right-hander single-handedly ensured that his side got close to parity and posted 262 in the first innings. 

Dealing with these two batters individually will be a challenge, but India will have to be on the lookout when they get together. 

Since 2022, Rahim and Litton have batted together seven times and have averaged 101.28 as a pair, with three 100-run partnerships. They batted together once in the tour of Pakistan and added 114 for the sixth wicket. 

It’s a pretty annoying pair to bowl to because, on one hand, you have a strong and defiant player in Rahim, and on the other, you have a flamboyant counter-attacking batter in Litton. 

And they complement each other really well in other ways, too. While Rahim is a rock against pace (avg 63.83 since 2022), Litton is borderline invincible against spin, as evident by his average of 73.71 versus the tweakers in the last two years. 

This pair is guaranteed to be a real thorn in India’s path in the forthcoming series.

Mehidy Hasan’s lower-order resistance with the bat

Mehidy Hasan might be an off-spinning all-rounder by designation, but India would do well to take his batting threat really seriously.

Since the start of 2022, five cricketers have scored more runs at No.7 and below than Mehidy — Joshua da Silva, Ben Foakes, Alex Carey, Kamindu Mendis and Agha Salman. While three of them in the list above are wicketkeeper-batters, Salman and Mendis are batting all-rounders. 

That Mehidy finds himself in this list is a testament to how solid a batter he’s been down the order. 

In the last 18 months, the 26-year-old has amassed 483 runs at an average of 48.80 while exclusively batting at Nos.7 and No.8. He will enter the two-Test series against India having amassed three consecutive fifty-plus scores in Tests.

Against Pakistan, the 26-year-old won the Player of the Series award, and while it was predominantly due to his efforts with the ball — 10 wickets @ 18.60 — he played two series-defining knocks with the bat in hand.  

In the first Test, the right-hander starred in a record-breaking 196-run stand for the seventh wicket with Rahim, where he added 77 runs of his own. He then backed it up with a 78 in the second Test, in which he featured in yet another marathon seventh-wicket stand, this time with Litton. And Mehidy’s hand in the second Test came under serious pressure, with the side reeling at 26/6 at one point. 

Mehidy’s ability to not just hang around with the batters but score big runs down the order is what has turned Bangladesh’s lower order into one of the best in Tests. Since the start of 2023, their average of 27.1 for wickets 7, 8 & 9 is the third-best among all teams in the world. 

Thus, Bangladesh’s lower-order resistance, often driven by Mehidy, is something India will have to keep an eye on. 

Nahid Rana’s pacey hit-the-deck deliveries

21-year-old Nahid Rana might be averaging 41 with the ball in Test cricket, but, as Pakistan found out, the young tearaway is someone capable of doing serious damage. 

A fast bowler capable of touching the 145 kph mark consistently and effortlessly, Rana proved too hot to handle for the Pakistan pacers in the second Rawalpindi Test, where he picked up five wickets in total. 

All his wickets in the second game were of pacey back-of-a-length deliveries that were banged into the surface, which did the Pakistan batters for pace. 

Historically, Bangladesh are not known for producing tearaway quicks, but in the Pakistan tour, a whopping 165 of the 308 deliveries bowled by Rana crossed the 140 kph mark. 

The 21-year-old could prove to be a real handful should the tracks in Chennai and Kanpur provide some assistance for the quicks. 

Taijul, Mehidy & the threat of spin

While discussing Bangladesh, it’s impossible not to bring up the spin threat that exists in the side — not least because one of the two Tests will be played in Chennai. 

Since 2023, only India and Australia spinners have averaged better than Bangladesh’s 26.7. The Tigers’ spinners have taken 67 wickets and have, in the said period, been the most economical spin unit in the entire world (E.R 2.8, the only spin unit to have an economy less than 3.00). 

Shakib is the most experienced spinner in the visitors’ squad, but it’s not the veteran who has been the most effective tweaker for them in the last couple of years. Instead, it’s been Taijul Islam and Mehidy, who, between them, have taken 46 wickets since 2023 at an average of 27.52.

In particular, India’s right-handers would do well to be wary of Taijul’s threat. Since the start of 2023, the left-arm spinner averages just 20.1 against right-handers, which is the best among all spinners who have taken 20+ RHB wickets in the said period. 

India do not need a reminder of the threat both Taijul and Mehidy are capable of possessing. In the last H2H clash between these two sides in red-ball cricket, Mehidy nearly bowled the Tigers to victory in the second innings, defending 144 in the fourth innings. In the second innings of the same clash, Taijul picked up a four-wicket haul, accounting for the top three batters, who were all incidentally right-handers.

The duo could prove to be lethal in the right conditions. 

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