Abdullah Al Mehdi

Before the series began there were assertions about how difficult a challenge the Test series against India would be, compared to the recently-concluded T20I series against the same opposition.

Mominul Haque, one of Bangladesh’s best performers in the Test circuit, will become Bangladesh’s newest Test captain as the Indore Test against India rolls out the carpet for the start of the Tigers’ Test Championship campaign today.

Bangladesh will begin their World Test Championship campaign with the first Test against India at Indore today with a new Test captain at the helm in the form of Mominul Haque.

While the Bangladesh team were undergoing net sessions at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, the mood around the visiting journalists -- unable to linger pitch side due to the ground’s specific, thoroughly followed regulations and forced to make their way into the stands -- lightened amidst the prevailing seriousness of the Tigers’ camp due to the presence of one humorously-cheerful soul named Nur Boksh.

The Bangladesh team practised under sunny skies at the Holkar Stadium in Indore yesterday and the focus had shifted to red-ball cricket with the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad getting into Test gear.

Bangladesh will have little time to reflect on the just-concluded T20I series, where they put up a fight but eventually lost 2-1.

“If we could have won the game and the series, I would have felt much better,” young Bangladesh opener Mohammad Naim thus rued the Tigers’ missed opportunity of making history in India on Sunday night.

The series tied 1-1, Bangladesh have the chance to make history with a win when they face India in the third and final T20I at Nagpur’s Vidarbha Cricket Stadium today.

Bangladesh’s ace pacer Mustafizur Rahman is one who can turn the tide of a game in crucial junctures. His exploits in the Indian Premier League in 2016 had brought him international fame and as the Tigers step into the third T20I in Nagpur with a chance of making history, a lot depends on their strike bowler turning up for the game.

Bangladesh were swept aside by an aggressive Rohit Sharma on a flat batting track in the second T20I in Rajkot on Thursday after the Tigers’ errors in batting led to a middling score, allowing the Indian captain to make things look easy during his 43-ball 85.

Bangladesh had complete control of things early on in the do-or-die match for India during the second T20I at Rajkot’s Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium yesterday.

Mahmudullah Riyad and Co will be desperate to continue turning the tide of close defeats against India when Bangladesh take the field today for the second T20I of the three-match series with a cyclone threat looming over the game in Rajkot. Having had so many close encounters against India, Mahmudullah was keen to clinch a series against their Asian rivals on their home soil.

A vibrant Bangladesh team have the chance to continue their momentum and clinch their first ever T20I series win over India when they take on the hosts in the second T20I at Rajkot’s Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium today even as the threat of cyclone ‘Maha’ looms on the horizon.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. That is pretty much the outlook for the Bangladesh team, who conquered the smog and a strong Indian outfit in Delhi only to find themselves going into a cyclonic storm named Maha, expected to make landfall between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Bangladesh’s first ever T20I win over India showcased a different brand of thinking by the team’s think tank with the motto being fearless cricket, as Mushfiqur Rahim had declared during the press conference following the game.

Newly-appointed T20I captain Mahmudullah Riyad marshalled his charges well as Bangladesh curtailed India’s stroke-makers early on, but the skipper will be ruing the late power-hitting which allowed the hosts to reach 148 for six at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi in the first of the three-match series yesterday.

After two weeks of terrible blows to Bangladesh cricket’s psyche, Mushfiqur Rahm’s unbeaten knock of 60 -- one that gave the Tigers their first T20I win against the mighty India -- came as a sort of deliverance to the team’s morale.

Bangladesh will have to battle both India and the suffocating New Delhi smog when they take on the hosts in the first game of the three-match T20I series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium today. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00pm local time (7:30pm BST).

“I don’t think it [captaincy in a tough period] is a burden. I am not thinking in that manner. I think it’s a great opportunity for me to lead the side,” Bangladesh’s newly-appointed T20I captain Mahmudullah Riyad said during a press conference yesterday on the eve of Bangladesh’s first T20I against India in Delhi.

When the announcement came that the plane was preparing to land, this reporter looked through the window hoping to catch a bird’s-eye view of Delhi. For a while, nothing except a white veil was visible. A few moments passed before trees, fields and tall buildings came into view. But it was still difficult to tell and as the aircraft got closer to the ground, the reporters onboard finally saw what the Delhi smog really is.