Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that Bangladesh is a dangerous team and cannot be taken lightly. India will play Bangladesh in a two-match Test series starting on September 19 in Chennai.
Bangladesh are in good form and are coming off a historic 2-0 win in the Test series against Pakistan. They dominated Pakistan in every aspect despite playing away from home and showed what a good team they can be.
Given their recent form and the quality of their squad, they cannot be taken lightly. Though India look stronger on paper, they are playing a Test match after a long time and may need some time to consolidate. Bangladesh will try to use this as an advantage.
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Sunil Gavaskar warns Indian team ahead of first Test against confident Bangladesh
In his column for Mid-Day, Sunil Gavaskar warned India not to take their opponents lightly and feels that they are a confident team after beating Pakistan in their own backyard. Gavaskar also recalled the last time India visited Bangladesh, when the home team gave India a tough fight and almost outclassed them.
“By beating Pakistan in both the Test matches played in Pakistan, the Bangladesh team has proved that it is a force to reckon with. Even a couple of years ago, when India visited Bangladesh, the Bangladeshis gave them a good fight. Now, with the series win against Pakistan under their belt, they are all set to take on India as well,” Gavaskar wrote in his column.
The former Indian opener further mentioned the talented players in the Bangladesh team who can take control away from the opposition. He asserted that no team can take Bangladesh lightly as they have already eliminated Pakistan in a convincing manner.
“They have some good players in their ranks and some promising new players who no longer have the respect they once had for their opponents that seemed to characterise them in their early forays into international football. Now, every team that plays them knows they cannot let their guard down because they could be taken down, as the Pakistanis found out. It will certainly be a series to look forward to,” Gavaskar added.
A huge task for Bangladesh
Although the Bangla Tigers defeated Pakistan in the Test series recently, they know that they have a much tougher task ahead of them now. Defeating India in Test cricket on their own conditions is probably one of the toughest things in cricket.
India has a tremendous record at home and is the most dominant team in the world under home conditions. They have not lost a Test series at home since 2013. Since 2013, the Men in Blue have a 40-4 win-loss record at home, which is the best among all other teams. Moreover, India is also ranked No. 1 in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) rankings currently and looks primed to reach a third consecutive WTC final.
The first match of the two-match Test series between India and Bangladesh will begin on September 19 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The second match will be played at Green Park, Kanpur, from September 27.
