Indian cricket team batter Yashasvi Jaiswal has established himself as a solid talent in the past couple of years and he is expected to take the field during the first Test match against Bangladesh in Chennai starting Thursday. However, according to a report on Sportstar, Jaiswal had a tough time facing the fast bowlers during the net session at the M Chidambaram Stadium on Monday. The report claimed that Jaiswal cut a ‘sorry figure’ against both Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah as the youngster kept missing deliveries outside the off-stump. However, the left-hander did look quite comfortable against the spinners and the report added that he used the sweep quite well to counter the threat of the spinners.

Meanwhile, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma will have some milestones to chase as he prepares to take on Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series at Chennai from Thursday.

The two-match series will kick off on September 19 in Chennai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The second long-format game will begin on September 27 in Kanpur. In his first Test assignment, head coach Gautam Gambhir will be keen on securing a series win.

The Indian skipper has enjoyed a fine run of form in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 so far, scoring 700 runs in nine matches and 16 innings at an average of 46.66, with three centuries and three fifties. His best score is 131. He is the 12th highest run-getter in the competition so far.

Rohit has two milestones to look for during the series. Getting to the first milestone will seal his legacy as the country’s finest six-hitter. With 84 sixes in Tests, Rohit is at 11th place among top six-hitters in the world. He just needs eight more big hits to displace legendary Virender Sehwag (91) to become team’s leading six-hitter in Test cricket.

England skipper Ben Stokes (131), former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Brendon McCullum (107) and iconic Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist (100) are the top three sixes in the world.

If Rohit goes on a big six-hitting spree in these two games, he could also become only the fourth overall and first Indian batter to have smashed 100 sixes in Tests.

(With ANI inputs)

India face Bangladesh in the first Test match in Chennai starting Thursday and the Rohit Sharma-led side is currently taking part in a camp at the M Chidambaram Stadium. The Indian cricket team players took part in an intensive training session on Monday but there was some reason for concern. According to a report by Sportstar, star batter Virat Kohli found it difficult to bat against Jasprit Bumrah and tall net bowler Gurnoor Brar. Bumrah kept moving the ball away from Kohli before bringing one into the batter which breached his defense. Bumrah broke into an appeal but Kohli indicated that it was missing leg-stump.

Kohli also found it difficult to play the 6 feet 4.5 inch tall pacer Gurnoor Brar who was included in the camp in order to replicate the threat of Bangladesh’s six foot five inch tall pacer Nahid Rana. Kohli looked to take him on off the front foot but the extra bounce continued to bother him throughout the session.

Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant and pacer Mohammed Siraj too faced local bowlers and significant amount of throwdowns.

The practice pitch at the main square offered a decent amount of bounce.

India will have two more practice sessions scheduled before the series opener against Bangladesh, who are riding on the confidence of their series sweep in Pakistan.

Most players in the playing eleven select themselves. The Chennai surface usually favour the spinners and there is likelihood of India going into the game with three spinners and two pacers.

The spinners expected to feature are Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav while Bumrah and Siraj will share workload in the pace department. Axar Patel, despite his impressive all-round returns across formats, may have to sit out.

On the batting front, Pant is expected to make his Test return after a gap of almost two years. Dhruv Jurel, who impressed his debut series against England, will be benched in that case.

(With PTI inputs)