India vs Bangladesh: Crucial Matchups That Will Impact the Series Narrative

India are considered the clear frontrunners in the upcoming home Test series against Bangladesh, a trend that is typical for red-ball matches played in India against any opposition. However, it is worth noting that Bangladesh's team appears to be in top form and well-prepared for this series, especially after their surprising victory against Pakistan on their home turf. This suggests that Bangladesh may put up a strong fight against the Indian team in the upcoming Test matches.

What is unique about Bangladesh which most top teams don't bring to the table when playing Test matches in India, is that they have multiple experienced spinners in their lineup. Additionally, both their top spinners - Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, are also proven all-rounders, as is the case for India with regards to Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Bangladesh also have batters who are far more adept at facing spin bowling than the average batter from countries like England or Australia.

All of this makes the upcoming two-match Test series an interesting prospect to look forward to. Here we take a look at some battles that could be key in the matches set to be played in Chennai and Kanpur

Mushfiqur Rahim is one of few touring batters who have a good record in India. He may have played only three Tests in the country but the Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter has scored 331 runs at an average of 55.16 with one century and two half-centuries. Bangladesh's fate in this series depends a lot on how they can avoid collapsing to Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and Mushfiqur will play a key role there. He was seen practicing different kinds of sweeps in Chennai ahead of the first Test against the offspin and left-arm spin in the nets.

Kohli has succesfully re-established himself as the most consistent batter in the world in ODIs and T20Is after his stunning three-year dip in form between 2019 and 2021. While he has also scored a couple of Test centuries in the last couple of years, there have been a lot of conversations about him falling far behind Joe Root in the pecking order for best contemporary Test batters. With India set to play 10 Test matches in the next six months, it is a good chance for Kohli to get a good run going in the format once again. Spin bowling has been a bit of a bane for him though and he will especially be targetted by the experienced duo of Shakib and Miraz. How Kohli navigates the pair might go a long way in how good a Test season he has overall.

If India dish out pace-friendly wickets, as they did the last time Bangladesh toured the country, they would be wary of the threat that Nahid Rana would pose. The tearaway, along with Hasan Mahmud, was the heart and soul of Bangladesh's incredible turnaround in their second Test against Pakistan. Captain Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are expected to open for India and they would be up against it with Rana known to regularly bowl around 145kph to 150kph.

Just as Rohit and Jaiswal, Bangladesh openers have their own battles to win and arguably, they have the more difficult task simply because of Jasprit Bumrah. Shadman Islam has shown that he has the temperament required from a top class Test opener, particularly in the series against Pakistan where he set the tone with a patient 93 in the first Test in Rawalpindi. However, facing Bumrah might just be the most difficult task in cricket at the moment, regardless of the conditions. Bumrah is fresh from a long break, having not played any cricket since the 2024 T20 World Cup and showed earlier this year during the five-match series at home against England that he can be as lethal as ever even if the conditions are heavily tilted in favour of spin bowling.