Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan described India as ‘unbeatable’ at home on the eve of the second Test between them in Kanpur.
Shakib Al Hasan highlights India's home dominance
Prior to their tour of India, Bangladesh achieved a historic 2-0 series win over Pakistan, raising hopes of a similar upset against India. However, their first Test in Chennai ended in a resounding 280-run defeat. Shakib attributed Pakistan's recent success to their inexperience in Test cricket, a factor that sets them apart from India. India, with its unmatched home record, possesses a wealth of experience in the longer format of the game. Shakib emphasized this experience as a crucial factor in India's dominance, particularly in Test cricket.
Shakib Al Hasan Hinting at Test retirement
Shakib Al Hasan, the former Bangladesh captain, announced his retirement from T20 international cricket on Thursday, September 26. He hinted that the ongoing Kanpur Test against India might also be his final appearance in Test cricket. Shakib praised India's impeccable home record in the past decade, highlighting their dominance in Test matches played on Indian soil.
India has maintained an impressive unbeaten record in Test series at home for the past 12 years. Their current streak of 17 consecutive series victories dates back to their loss against England in 2012-13. In contrast, Pakistan has faced challenges in winning Test series at home. Prior to their recent defeat against Bangladesh, they drew a series against New Zealand and suffered a 3-0 loss to England. Pakistan's last home Test series was against South Africa in 2021-22.
“If I talk about India, they are the number one team in the World Championship at this moment. They are probably unbeatable at home. I saw a stat somewhere where for some 4000 days they have been unbeaten in India. So, that shows how good they are in India," Shakib said in the pre-match press conference on September 26.
“They have been doing well outside India as well. Any country that came to India finding it difficult, we are no different there. But having said that, we have to play really well against them to be able to show the fight that we feel like we can put on,” Shakib added.
Bangladesh haven't defeated India Test cricket. In their 14 encounters, Team India has notched 12 wins, while the other two ended in draws.
“If you look at other countries, every now and then they will lose one or two games. But in India, you hardly see them losing in Test matches. So yes, I would say you are right,” Shakib told reporters when asked if a tour to India was indeed the toughest assignment. We won against them in the ODI series in Bangladesh, we were very close to win a game against them in a Test match in Bangladesh. In Test cricket, we haven't got the success that we are looking for. Tomorrow we will have another opportunity," Bangladesh's veteran all-rounder further stated.
“I thought in patches we played really well in Chennai. But having said that, finishing the match in three-and-a-half days wasn't ideal for us. We felt like we were a better team than that. So, we need to show that in tomorrow's match,” he concluded.
India's squad for 2nd Test against Bangladesh
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal
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