An imposing task awaits

As Bangladesh embarked on their maiden Test tour of India, which will commence in earnest at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad with the one-off Test starting on February 9, expectations among fans in this part of the world lurched from a three-day submission to an improbable victory. 

Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim however was pragmatic in his opening speech where he termed the one-off Test as another one of a long list instead of branding it a 'historic' one. He also said that they wanted to use this opportunity and play good cricket to prove that they are now a better team than they were five years ago.

This is a fair statement from the Bangladesh Test captain and the onus will be on his team to back up his words -- that the Tigers have come a long way from being the whipping boys in the demanding five-day contest. Bangladesh's recent success or their home dominance for the last two years has been limited mainly to their achievements in the one-day format of the game. But in hindsight this success can be attributed to the development in skill and that is why the Tigers have also performed well across all formats in the recent past.

Bangladesh's victory in the second Test against England last year, their two recent Tests against New Zealand in completely different conditions provided ample evidence that they are increasingly becoming competitive in the five-day game. Bangladesh's defeats in both Tests in New Zealand can best be described as a result of a mental problem than a deficiency of physical skill.

So, the Test in India will test how Bangladesh apply both mentally and physically against the top-ranked Test team in the world. Things will be even tougher considering the fact that they will play India on their home turf, where they simply tore apart the likes of Australia and New Zealand by innings margins in two of their three Tests on this batting-friendly wicket.

The biggest challenge facing Bangladesh is the twin spin attack of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. You can easily add a third in Amit Mishra, considering Bangladesh's weakness against quality leg-spin. While it is true that Bangladesh's batting showed character in the virtual dust-bowl in Chittagong but the English bowlers were definitely not as devastating as Ashwin can be on such wickets or even on those with less turn and bounce.

If Bangladesh can neutralise the venom of Ashwin and keep a close eye on Jadeja's arm ball they will stand a chance of putting up a fight against a famed Indian batting line-up, which has a history of scoring no less than 400 runs in an innings on this very ground.

Although Bangladesh are carrying as many as four pacers in the team, a pace-friendly wicket will be the remotest of options they are going to get. They have got three spinners in the team and among the trio, off-spinner Mehadi Hasan Miraz will probably get a wicket of his liking after his famous exploits against England at home, where he took an amazing 16 wickets in two Tests.

But if the Tigers are to make a positive impact their batting has to come to the party as a cohesive unit, which was missing in New Zealand. The team will probably be packed with seven batsmen -- Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah Riyad, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman -- unless there is an injury issue. But the biggest problem is that most of them love to play in one gear and refuse to adapt to the demands of different situations. They will desperately need to sort that out if they want to learn from the mistakes they committed in New Zealand. Moreover, they need to learn how to take a few catches in the slip cordon if they are to make an impact against an imposing Indian team trooped by an imposing leader in Virat Kohli.