India to play Bangladesh in two Tests in September.
India captain Rohit Sharma was given a warning by former India cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina ahead of the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh recently defeated Pakistan in the first of the two Tests in Rawalpindi, registering their first Test win over Asian Giants. It was a dominating performance by Bangladesh, as they posted 565 in reply to Pakistan’s 448/6d, with Mushfiqur Rahim scoring 191 runs.
Then their spinners wreaked havoc on Pakistan batters in the second innings, bowling them out for 146 runs. Bangladesh then achieved the 30-run target without losing a wicket, registering their maiden Test win over Bangladesh.
India and Bangladesh will play two Tests, with the first one on September 19 in Chennai and the second match on September 27 in Kanpur. The two sides will then clash in three T20Is as well.
Raina and Harbhajan believe the same players can hurt India next month.
"Now, a team for Tests will be formed. Top players playing Duleep Trophy is a nice initiative by the BCCI. You get to know a lot of things when you play red-ball cricket. You cannot take Bangladesh lightly as they have a fine spin bowling attack and some good players who have done well for a long time. This series will be a fine match practice for the tour to Australia," Raina told ANI.
Harbhajan too echoed his former teammate, saying that Bangladesh should not be taken lightly.
"It will be a great series. Indian cricket team has been very capable and has potential. However, we can't strike through Bangladesh as well, they have beaten Pakistan in the first Test match against Pakistan. Sometimes, smaller teams perform well in matches," the former off-spinner said.
After Bangladesh, India will host New Zealand for three Tests in October-November. And will then travel to Australia for the much anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy series which will have five Tests for the first time.