Bangladesh will take on an in-form India in the opening encounter of the 2-match Test series at the Holkar Stadium in Indore from Thursday.

It would be an uphill task for Bangladesh to compete against the number one ranked team, who come into the series after whitewashing the South Africans a 3-0 and extending their stupendous unbeaten run at home to record-extending 11 bilateral series wins.

On the other hand, Bangladesh have not had the best of times in red-ball cricket after they were handed a massive defeat by Afghanistan in the one-off Test in their own backyard. While Kohli-led India stand atop the ICC Test rankings, Bangladesh are languishing at the bottom of the table, placed ninth among the Test nations.

The absence of their stalwarts in ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and seasoned opener Tamim Iqbal will also be a denting factor to their hopes of competing hard against the Indians who at the moment are enjoying a purple patch in Test cricket.

So here is a look at how does the Bangladesh squad stack up against upbeat Indian side for the 2-match Test series

Opening Woes

In Iqbal’s absence, the onus will lie on the young and in-form Shadman Islam and the experienced Imrul Kayes to hold the fort at the top of the innings against a power-packed Indian bowling unit. Meanwhile, 21-yr rookie opener Saif Hassan got a call up into the Test team on the back of a prolific run-scoring season in domestic cricket.

Rahim and Mahmudullah Only Experienced Campaigners in Shakib-less Middle Order

The Shakib-less middle order is not world-class by any means but has valuable experience in the form of the experienced wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. Newly-appointed skipper Monimul Haque comes into the series with confidence riding high on runs against Afghanistan. However, it will be a different ball game altogether against a potent Indian attack. Liton Das and Mohammad Mithun have been found wanting at the Test level and scoring runs against India in their backyard will be a humongous task.

Young and Inexperienced Seam Attack

With the recent retirement of experienced seamer Mashrafe Mortaza, the inexperienced pace attack certainly lacks pedigree and would look up to white-ball specialist Mustafiqur Rahim to step up his performance against a well oiled Indian batting unit. The rest of the fast bowling attack comprising of budding talents Abu Jayed, Al-Amin Hossain and Ebadot Hossain are pretty new to Test cricket and would surely be tested against an experienced Indian batting.

Taijul Islam and Mehedy Hasan Form Potent Spin Attack

The biggest strength of the Bangladesh squad is their spin armoury which boasts of quality spinners in Taijul Islam and Mehedy Hasan Miraz, both of whom would relish exploiting any turn on offer in either Indore or Kolkata Test. However, the absence of left-arm tweaker Shakib Al Hasan is certainly bound to weaken the spin attack.

Both Islam and Miraz have been among the wickets in the recent bilateral Test series against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka on turning tracks. However, the spin duo that had a pretty poor run against India in their previous Test outings would look to make an impression this time around. The visitors also have off-spinner Nayeem Hasan who can be brought into the playing eleven, if the conditions demand so.