Basit Ali Questions Rohit Sharma’s Decision To Bowl First In 2nd Test vs Bangladesh

It has happened only for the first time since 2015 that an Indian captain has won the toss and decided to bowl first in a home Test match, and Rohit Sharma has created the record, having done the same on the black-soil track against Bangladesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur during the second and final red-ball game of the two-match series.

In the last game, Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and asked Rohit Sharma’s men to bat first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai under cloudy conditions. The black-soil track is expected to help the spinners a lot, and batting in the fourth innings against the three quality spinners, of the opponent, could backfire on the Indian team.

This could expected to be a decision, keeping in mind the two reasonable factors of India leading the series with a 1-0 margin with the 280-run victory and the fact is that they are preparing themselves for every condition before the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.

Basit Ali points rain as a potential reason for Rohit Sharma to bat second

The former middle-order batter of the Pakistan side, Basit Ali, was surprised to see the decision of Rohit Sharma to bowl first during the Kanpur Test, as he reckoned that the pitch is expected to get tougher as the game would go on with low bounce.

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“India won the toss and chose to bowl first. It was a surprise for me. The pitch looked very good. After two balls from Bumrah went one bounce to the keeper, I wondered what would happen in the fourth innings for India. However, there is rain for two days, so that’s a factor.” Basit expressed this in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

The first day of the second Test could see only 35 overs before rain spoiled the fun from the second session of the game. The first ball that Jasprit Bumrah bowled in the game bounced knee-high, giving full life to the speculation of the low bounce of the track.

Bangladesh finished the opening day of the Test with 107/3, as Mominul Hoque and Mushfiqur Rahim remain unbeaten in the middle, while Akash Deep enjoyed two wickets in the game so far.

Having decided to bowl first, Rohit Sharma can plan to bat once in their first innings and put up a huge score in the game, and ask Bangladesh to go for their in the third innings. The forecast for this Test match isn’t bright enough, with the fifth day seeming to be the only day when the sun will have its full effect.

Basit also believed that if the Rohit Sharma-led side could bundle out the opponents for a low score on the second day, they could aim to win the game by an innings margin.

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“Bowling first here means that India wants to bat just once. They want to win this Test by an inning, otherwise, there will be a problem. There is a forecast for rain tomorrow as well. If India takes seven wickets tomorrow, the Test match will be in their pocket.” Basit Ali concluded.

The first session of the second day’s play of the Kanpur Test was washed out due to the persistent rain, and not much action is likely to take place for the next two days. The Rohit Sharma-led side would be eager to claim a positive result in the encounter to qualify themselves for the World Test Championship (WTC) final before the Australia trip.