After folding up inside three days in first Test, onus now on Bangladesh to compete well against India, else historic day-night Test will only be remembered for colour of the ball
Eden Gardens
Kolkata: Daniel Vettori spoke of the buzz in the Bangladesh camp over Friday's 'historic' pink-ball Test. The bowling consultant may well have added that the onus is now squarely on the 'Tigers' to ensure that the second Test, at Eden Gardens here, is remembered more for the intensity in their fight than for the colour of the ball.
Blown away in three days in Indore, Bangladesh, up against the world's best Test team, need to show they have learnt from that distressing experience and that they are still up for a challenge.
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Outplayed in all departments, batting is the area Bangladesh need to really work on if they want to narrow the huge gap between the two teams. While skills cannot be dramatically improved over a short period of time, temperament certainly can. It has to be mind over matter.
In the short history of day-night Tests, the glossy pink ball has lent itself better to seam-up bowling than to spin, and Vettori will be happy that their pacers showed promise in Indore.
The bad news is that their Indian counterparts are in devastating form. Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma were a terrifying trio in Indore, and Bangladesh batsmen will be bracing themselves for another barrage of quality pace bowling.
Under lights against a pink ball darting out off a white screen, they may not even see it coming.
All eyes on Shami
On a wicket that is expected to have more bounce and 'carry', Shami, pick of the lot in Indore, may well be further fired by vociferous home support. Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha is the other 'local lad' in marauding Team India.
Vettori revealed that the Bangladeshi pacers had come to grips with the pink SG balls. Indications are that the visitors will pick an extra pacer. Mustafizur Rahman may well come into the picture.
India's batting line-up poses a daunting challenge. In a top order that boasts of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, it is Mayank Agarwal, the least experienced of them all, who is adding meat with his sensational run. Having scored 243 in India's innings victory in Indore, Agarwal's second double-century this season, it will be interesting to find out how the opener from Karnataka takes to a day-night Test match.
Rahane fell short of a century while Pujara and Ravinder Jadeja scored fifties. Rohit and Kohli missed out, and it will not be a comforting thought for Bangladeshi bowlers that the two prolific run-getters will be hungry to make amends.
The dew factor
Will India field both Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja? An intriguing part of the contest will be how the Indian spinners fare with a ball that has so far frowned upon
that craft.
Dew, particularly unavoidable in eastern India during this time of the year, will actually affect all bowlers. It is a factor that the BCCI will have to address in depth while staging day-night Tests in future.
While there is a match to be won, Kohli & Co will want to soak in the experience. The next five days will provide both teams with their first inputs in a new data bank.
Live on TV
2nd Test: India v B’desh, Star Sports 1 & 1HD, 13:00 onwards
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