Team India will take the field on September 19 and square off against Bangladesh in a two-match Test series. The series will kick off with the first match to be played from September 19 to 23 in Chennai. The second Test match will be played in Kanpur. Virat Kohli has made his comeback to the Test team and he has been named in the squad for the opening game of the series.
KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are two other players who are back in the Test team. They are set to play the first Test. Rahul is likely to replace Sarfaraz Khan while Rishabh will come in for Dhruv Juel. Here, we have a look at India's likely playing XI for the first Test match against Bangladesh –
Openers
Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are confirmed to open the innings. Yashasvi has been facing the new ball in Test and T20Is since his debut and he is once again ready for a tough challenge. This will be India's first Test match since March 2024.
Middle-order
Shubman Gill has been batting in the middle-order since Yashasvi Jaiswal's debut and he will continue to come out to bat after the fall of the first wicket. He will be followed by Virat Kohli, who will be making his comeback to Tests. Virat has only played one Test match in 2024.
There will be a direct race between KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan for a place in the final XI. The team management is likely to bring in Rahul and drop Sarfaraz, who has done well in international cricket since his debut. Rahul only played one Test against England. Since Rahul is the senior, he is likely to be given preference over Sarfaraz in the playing XI.
Wicketkeeper
Rishabh Pant looks all but set to make his return behind the wickets. Dhruv Jurel made his debut in Rishabh's absence and played a key role in India's win against England. But with the regular player returning, Dhruv will get dropped.
All-rounders
R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been India's regular all-rounders at home since 2015 and they will once again share the duties. Axar Patel is the third spinner in the team but he isn't expected to be part of the final XI.
Bowlers
Kuldeep Yadav is likely to pip Axar to be the third spinner in the final XI. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are set to be India's two pacers. Bumrah could be rested for the second game of the series.
India's likely playing XI for 1st Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj