India have looked unbeatable at home under Virat Kohli so far and that aura will be put to the test when they host Bangladesh in the only Test match to be played in Hyderabad later this week.
Karun Nair or Ajinkya Rahane for Bangladesh Test?
Kohli has led from the front with the bat after taking over from MS Dhoni and with India already proving to be too strong for the likes of South Africa, New Zealand and England, not many will be tipping Bangladesh to end India's brilliant home run.
However, Bangladesh will have an advantage over the other teams in the fact that they will be more familiar with these Indian conditions. They also have quality spinners capable of causing a problem or four for India, while their own batsmen will hope to nullify the threat posed by the opposition bowlers.
Bangladesh showed they can compete in Test match cricket as well by beating England at home, while giving a couple of scares to New Zealand.
India, and that too at home, though, are a completely different proposition.
Bangladesh are unlikely to come up against better spinners than R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Add the impressive Jayant Yadav to the mix, and the batsmen will need to play out of their skins, and then a bit more after that, to stay competitive in this Test match.
The pacers also impressed against England, with Umesh Yadav showing he has improved on his consistency and accuracy, while in Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kohli has two reliable bowlers to bank upon.
Bangladesh will hope to turn this into a really competitive Test match by putting the India batsmen under pressure. India always found a way out of tough situations against England, pretty much all the time managing to post a big first innings total, despite losing the toss on a number of occasions.
If Bangladesh can stop India from posting a big score in the first innings, it will put greater pressure on the home team's spinners, which, in turn, might induce a few mistakes as desperation mounts.
But, to stop the India team at the moment is easier said than done.
With all due respect to Bangladesh, they are not a team of the same calibre of England, South Africa or New Zealand, and even these teams were outthought and outclassed by Kohli's side.
What they do have going for them is a greater familiarity with the conditions, which they must exploit to the hilt to stand any chance of taking this Test match to the distance.
If the spinners don't bowl well enough – not much of an impact could be made in the warm-up game against India A – and if the batsmen struggle to cope with the India pressure, Kohli's men will end up on the winning side. So, playing to their full potential and hoping India make mistakes will be key if Bangladesh are to make history by picking up a win in their first Test match on Indian shores.
India vs Bangladesh: One-off Test match schedule.
Date: Thursday, February 9 to Monday February 13.
Time: 9.30am IST (10am Bangladesh Standard Time, 4am GMT).
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
TV guide: India: Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3. Bangladesh: Channel 9. UK: Sky Sports 2. Middle East: OSN Sports Cricket HD. New Zealand: Sky Sport 4. Australia: Fox Sports 5. USA, Canada: Willow TV. South Africa: SuperSport 2.
