Rohit Sharma and Najmul Hossain Shanto during toss© BCCI/Sportzpics
India captain Rohit Sharma left everyone surprised at the time of toss during the start of the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur. Team India was expected to field three spinners in the second Test, especially considering the pitch at the venue was prepared using black soil, which makes added assistance to spinners a certainty. However, Rohit decided to bowl first after winning the toss and named an unchanged XI, meaning all three pacers - Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep - retained their place in the team.
However, it doesn't look like Rohit originally wanted to play three seamers in Kanpur. Kuldeep Yadav, who didn't play against Bangladesh in the first Test, had a lengthy nets session ahead of the start of play, hinting that he could be in line to feature in the playing XI. But, the overcast conditions at the Greenfield stadium seem to have made Rohit and the team management change their plans.
It also has to be noted Rohit's decision to bowl first after winning the toss at home was the first from an India captain in 9 years. The last India chose to bowl first after winning the toss at home was against South Africa in Bengaluru in 2015. India's captain in that match was Virat Kohli, and it ended in a draw.
"We are going to bowl first. The pitch seems a bit soft, so we have to make early inroads and we want our three seamers to make use of it. We didn't start well with the bat in the first game, but we found a way to score and the bowlers did the job. I expect no different here (fight from Bangladesh), we will be challenged but we have the experience to bounce back," Rohit said during the toss.
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 27, 2024
Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, however, wanted to bat first and was happy to see his counterpart choosing to bowl.
"Happy to bat first, we wanted to bat anyway. As a batter, if we get a start we have to score well. Hope our batters can score big today. Looks like a good wicket to bat on. New ball batting will be key though. Two changes. Nahid and Taskin aren't playing. Taijul and Khaled are in," he said.
India's playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj