India Most runs: Sachin Tendulkar - 820, HS 248*, average 136.66, 5x100 Most wickets: Zaheer Khan - 31, BB 7/87, average 24.25, 2x5for
Bangladesh Most runs: Mohammad Ashraful - 386, HS 158*, average 42.88, 2x100, 2x50 Most wickets: Mohammad Rafique - 15, BB 4/146, average 46.40
In the spotlight:
Bengal stumper Wriddhiman Saha is back as India’s preferred wicketkeeper. He missed three Tests against England but on comeback to competitive cricket, scored his maiden double-hundred to help Rest of India win the recent Irani Cup. How Saha performs, considering how well Parthiv Patel did as his replacement in the England Tests, assumes greater significance.
The young offspinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz had a terrific introduction to Test cricket last year in Bangladesh, when England came for two Tests. Just 19, he snared 22 wickets to be named Man of the Series with his best of 12 coming in the second Test in Dhaka which Bangladesh won by 108 runs to level the series. However, away from the dustbowls at home, Miraz struggled in New Zealand where he managed four wickets in two Tests. Against India, who have batsmen weaned on playing spin, how the rookie fares could dictate the course of this one-off Test.
Number 19 on the cards?
Virat Kohli’s team is two wins away from leveling India’s longest unbeaten run in home Tests - 20, achieved between 1977-1980. The current streak stands at 18. After the Bangladesh Test, India play four against Australia. What odds that Bangladesh deny them?
Quote unquote:
“I don’t believe this is a historic Test. We want to tell world cricket what we can do in India. We want to play in such a way that India invites us again and again. This to me is just another Test match.” - Mushfiqur Rahim
Did you know?
Sachin Tendulkar’s highest Test score of 248* came against Bangladesh in Dhaka in December 2004.
Shakib Al Hasan is one of only three players to ever score a century and take 10 wickets in the same Test. Ian Botham and Imran Khan are the others.
Ground reality
The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal on the outskirts of Hyderabad has hosted three Test matches. In 2010, India and New Zealand played out a high-scoring draw. India then beat New Zealand by an innings and 115 runs in 2012 and Australia by an innings and 135 runs in 2013.
The highest score in Tests there is India’s 503 versus Australia, followed by the 472 that India made in 2010. The highest total by a visiting team came in that same Test too, when New Zealand made 448/8 declared. The lowest total at Uppal is Australia’s 131 in 2013.
Five batsmen have scored centuries there: Brendon McCullum (225), Cheteshwar Pujara (204 & 159), Murali Vijay (167), Harbhajan Singh (111*) and Tim Macintosh (102). Of the four five-wicket hauls at the ground, three belong to R Ashwin and one to Daniel Vettori.