Team India captain Rohit Sharma has been officially ruled out of the 1st Test against Bangladesh beginning in Chattogram on Wednesday (December 14). KL Rahul has been handed the captaincy reigns in the absence of Rohit with Cheteshwar Pujara named as his deputy for the game.


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With Rohit absent, youngster Shubman Gill is set to open the batting with his captain Rahul for the game. Gill has had an inconsistent run in his short 11 match Test career, averaging 30.47 with a best of 91 against Australia and four half-centuries.


Gill will be keen on making this opportunity count and throw a tough challenge to his skipper Rahul to challenge for the second opener’s slot when Rohit returns from injury. Rishabh Pant is expected to take up the wicketkeeping gloves for the 1st Test after being rested from the three-match ODI series due to fitness issues.



With Ravindra Jadeja still missing, the Test could see the debut of Saurabh Kumar of Uttar Pradesh who has been impressive with both bat and ball for the India ‘A’ side against Bangladesh. The pace attack is also expected to feature Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat, who may get his second Test cap after a gap of 12 years. Unadkat played his one and only Test match against South Africa at the Centurion back in 2010.


Apart from Unadkat, the pace attack is expected to feature the likes of Mohammed Siraj, who was impressive during the ODI series against Bangladesh earlier. He will be joined by the veteran pacer Umesh Yadav apart from chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav to bolster the spin department.


India vs Bangladesh 1st Test Predicted Playing XI


KL Rahul (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat