After beating Pakistan for the first time in a Test series, Bangladesh will chase more history and face a greater challenge when they take on India in Chennai for the first of two-Test series, which begins on Thursday.
India, finalists of the previous two cycles of the ICC World Test Championship, are currently at the top of the table, with the Tigers at fourth.
The ICC Test rankings, though, are showing a far greater difference between the two sides, as India are ranked second while Bangladesh are at ninth.聽
The records are also against Bangladesh, as they have never beaten India in this format in 13 previous attempts.
Moreover, India, who will play in Tests for the first time under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, are unbeaten in any series at home for the past 12 years.
They only lost four out of 51 matches in this period.聽
But fresh from the historic clean sweep over Pakistan, Bangladesh certainly have a great deal of self-belief in store.聽 Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has echoed that.
鈥楥ertainly, it gives us a lot of confidence coming into the series,鈥� said Hathurusingha.
鈥楴ot because of the outcome of the series, the way we played in that series, the way we handled certain situations, we were behind the game in both Test matches, and then how we came back and then the people who contributed in different times, it gives us a lot of belief for this series.鈥�
The Sri Lankan also stated that the Tigers are encouraged by the fact of taking a team like India in their home.
鈥楶laying against the best always makes you feel where you stand, and as sportsmen, we are looking forward to that challenge.鈥�
The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, which will host its first Test since February 2013, is historically a spin friendly wicket.
Since the start of this century, the spinners have taken 197 wickets at a collective average of 33.88, while the pacers have spent 38.41 runs apiece to take 97.聽
This time the wicket may not be a turner, as reported by several Indian media. The red soil pitch may offer pace and bounce throughout the Test.聽
鈥楾he wicket looks really good at the moment鈥�, said Hathurusingha on Tuesday. 鈥業t looks like a sporting wicket at this stage. But knowing the sub-continent, it can change now up to the first day.鈥�
Either way, Bangladesh have a well-balanced bowling attack with the spin all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz and the pacers like Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed and the new pace sensation Nahid Rana.聽
Hathurusingha in fact said that this is the most rounded team that Bangladesh have produced during his tenure.聽
鈥榃e have come with a lot of pacers, and we got good fast bowlers鈥�, he said.聽
鈥榃e got a really good, experienced spin attack. And then the batting; we actually have batting depth because of two reasons. One is that two of our spinners are genuine batters who got Test hundreds.聽
鈥楢nd then two of our wicketkeepers who are our main batters. So the balance of the team for this series is really good, and that actually gives us a lot more confidence that we can be competitive in the series.鈥�
India, on the other hand, have a very well-balanced team too.聽
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack while Mohammed Shami recovers from an ankle surgery.
Rohit Sharma will have the favour of India鈥檚 experienced slow bowling trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel, along with Kuldeep Yadav, to test Bangladesh鈥檚 batting.
India welcome back wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant to the Test squad for the first time since he nearly lost his life in a car crash in December 2022.
Virat Kohli is also back for his first Test since facing South Africa at Cape Town in January, having missed India鈥檚 4-1 home series win against England for the birth of his second child.
