Indian skipper Rohit Sharma clearly denied the thoughts of the Bangladesh series being a dress rehearsal for the huge Border-Gavaskar Trophy coming up later this year. India will kickstart their home season with a 2-match Test series against a confident Bangladesh side who have come into the series beating Pakistan in Tests for the historic first time ever.
“Look, at the end of the day, you are playing for your country,” Rohit said. “So there is no dress rehearsal kind of stuff happening here. Every game that we play is important, and every game becomes important because of what is at stake. [In the] World Test Championship, still the table is quite wide open, and you want to win every game. So it doesn’t matter where we play in two months’ time. We want to win here. We want to win this Test match.”
The India team will be back in the whites after a long time post their home series against England earlier this year. “We are starting after a long time actually”, the captain Rohit Sharma said. However, given the hectic schedule ahead, 10 Tests in 15 weeks, the skipper ensured that they had clear plans laid down for managing the workload of all the players, especially the fast bowlers.
“We have laid out some plans on how we are going to manage these bowlers,” Rohit said. “But again, it all depends on the workload that has been carried by them in these games. So yeah, we will monitor that. I think we have done that pretty well. Even when we played against England [at home, earlier this year], we managed to get Bumrah one Test match off. We managed to give Siraj one Test match off.
“So it all depends on how the body feels at that particular time, what the [strength and conditioning] is, and what the physios feel about them, when is the right time to give them a break from the game, and then take the call.
Post the 2 Tests against Bangladesh, India will host New Zealand for a 3-match test series, which would then be followed by the big Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia away from home. It would be integral for the Indian side to manage the likes of Bumrah, Siraj, and Shami, and protect them for the series in Australia, where their services would be required the most. While Bumrah and Siraj are a part of the Bangladesh series, Shami is still recovering from his injury and is expected to be back for either the New Zealand series or for BGT.
“You want your best players to play all the games, but that’s not possible because there is so much cricket that happens,” Rohit said. “It is not only Test cricket, there is T20 cricket happening [against Bangladesh and South Africa] in the middle of the Test series as well. So you [have] got to understand everything, and then see what is best for the team and then manage your bowlers around it.”
Rohit, this time will work along with a completely new support staff, with Gautam Gambhir and co. taking charge in tests for the first time since being appointed as the head coach.
“The staff is new, but I know both Gautam Gambhir and Abhishek Nayar,” Rohit said. “I have played quite a bit of cricket against [bowling coach] Morne Morkel; we’ve played some tough cricket against each other. I’ve also played, maybe a couple of games, against [assistant coach] Ryan [ten Doeschate], but the two of us haven’t spoken as much before. From what I experienced with him in Sri Lanka, I think he has a sensible and understanding personality, given the way he quickly started to understand things about the team.
“As for Gambhir and Nayar, like I said, I know them well. Sri Lanka was the first series [with them in charge], and now they are going to play their second series with the team. Everyone has their own style. Rahul bhai, Vikram Rathour, and Paras Mhambrey – they had a different way of running the team, [while] these guys will have a different style.
“So it’s important for you to adjust. So far, there have been no problems or issues as a player. Like I said, if there is understanding between both [coaches and players], that’s the most important thing. And we have a good understanding.” Rohit added.
The game Tests begins on the 19th of September in Chennai which will followed by a test in Kanpur to conclude the series. India would be keen to win the series 2-0 and gain some valuable WTC points to have a smooth way forward to the final in Lords next year.
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