India captain Rohit Sharma inspecting the pitch at Kanpur’s Green Park.© AFP
The Indian team might be tempted to play three spinners against Bangladesh in the second Test, starting Friday at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium. The hosts won the series opener in Chennai last week, hammering Bangladesh by 280 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series-opener. The Rohit Sharma-led side opted for three pacers in Chennai, with Akash Deep getting the nod, alongside senior pros Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, over Yash Dayal. Since the Kanpur Test will be played on a black soil track, Akash might have to make way for local hero Kuldeep Yadav.
However, the stadium could be under cloud cover for the first three days. As per Accuweather, rain might play spoilsport on Day 1 with a prediction of 100 per cent cloud cover on Friday. There will also be 65 per cent precipitation in the morning.
“Cloudy with a couple of thunderstorms,” the weather forecast read.
The situation is likely to get even worse in the evening with 99 per cent cloud cover and 80 per cent chance of precipitation.
There has been some rain in the city in the lead-up to the encounter. In fact, the Indian team’s extended training session could not be completed due to the downpour.
Meanwhile, India remain undecided on playing three spinners in second Test against Bangladesh with assistant coach Abhishek Nayar saying that the nature of the pitch and overhead conditions on the morning of the match will influence the decision-making.
If India opt to play three spinners in Kanpur, the extra spinner could be either Axar Patel or Kuldeep Yadav. Asked if Kuldeep will get to play at home, Nayar was non-committal.
“To be honest, I don’t know which surface we are going to play on yet. Both the pitches look pretty good. Kanpur is often known to have good pitches. I am not sure about the bounce yet,” Nayar said during the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
(With PTI Inputs)
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