On the eve of the first Test against Bangladesh, India head coach has all but confirmed the home side’s batting line-up after he revealed that stumper Dhruv Jurel and middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan will have to wait for their chances, signalling the return of Rishabh Pant back in Test cricket for the first time in 21 months.

KL Rahul, who missed the last four Tests of the five-match series against England after suffering a quadriceps injury following the first Test in Hyderabad, is also set for a return, replacing Sarfaraz.

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In the pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Gambhir asserted that players from his team aren’t dropped and instead players, who fit the XI are selected.

“We don’t drop anyone. We just pick the players who fit the XI. We believe in selecting the XI. Jurel is a phenomenal player but when Pant is coming in, sometimes people have to wait. Same with Sarfaraz. There will be opportunities and you have to wait,” Gambhir said.

“We all know how destructive Pant can be and what he has done. Not many of his age have done it across conditions. With batting and behind the stumps he has been phenomenal. His batting overshadows his keeping especially against the spinners,” the 42-year-old added.

Going by Gambhir’s statements, it appears that Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Pant will form the top-six, followed by the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and a toss-up between Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. Axar’s batting could give him an edge if India pushes for batting depth in their first ever Test appearance since March.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will be India’s frontline pacers, in case the team management decides to go in with three specialist spinners. In the scenario of a three-prong pace attack, it could be a toss-up between Akash Deep and the uncapped Yash Dayal.

Squads: 

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sarfaraz Khan, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Akash Deep.

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Jaker Ali Anik.