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With the selection of pacer Yash Dayal in India's squad for the upcoming series at home against Bangladesh, Team India will be aiming to overcome the absence of a left-arm pacer in their red-ball cricket since retirement of Zaheer Khan in 2014.
The two-match series between India and Bangladesh will kick off on September 19 in Chennai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The second Test will begin on September 27 in Kanpur. In his first Test assignment, head coach Gautam Gambhir will be keen on securing a series win. India has had a formidable bowling unit consisting of spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma that have helped India stay undefeated in a series at home since 2013. Since the end of World War II in 1945, as per Wisden, a total of 349 fast bowlers have bowled at least in 20 innings in men's Tests. Out of these, 49 pacers have been left-armers, as per Wisden. India have had six of these left-arm quicks out of 29 pacers who have bowled at least 20 innings in Tests from WWII end till present. Two of these were Rusi Surti (45 innings and 42 wickets) and Karsan Ghavri (69 innings and 109 wickets) during the 1960s and 1970s,, respectively. After a drought lasting till late 1990s, there was a sudden emergence of talented left-armers in Ashish Nehra (1999), Zaheer (2000), Irfan Pathan (2003) and RP Singh (2006) in India's red-ball set-up. Zaheer turned out to be the only long-term left-armer for India, playing 92 Tests, bowling in 165 innings and getting 311 Test scalps. Pathan did play in 29 Tests, took 100 wickets in 54 innings, but there was his utility with bat, which contributed to his Test run from 2003-2008. Other two relatively, short-term options, Nehra played 17 Tests from 1999-2004, taking 44 wickets in 25 innings. RP's run was also short, as between 2006-2011, he played just 14 Tests, picking up 40 wickets in 25 innings. Since Zaheer's retirement, India has hardly been able to play a left-armer in Test cricket. Since his retirement in February 2014, the combined Test match experience of Indian left-armers is just four matches, three by Jaydev Unadkat and one by T Natrajan. Only Afghanistan has lesser Test match experience for left-armers. While this has not hampered, India's success, as the spinners have ruled the home conditions and India's right-arm quicks have also provided strong support, a left-armer adds to the balance of the side. It helps in breaking the consistency provided by right-arm bowlers and offers a different angle to the batter, which can prove to be challenging. A left-armer bowling from over the wicket can help in making rough patches outside a right-hand batters' off-stump, which can assist off-spinners in the second half of a Test match. Dayal's selection possibly reflects some shift to a profile-first approach. During the white-ball series against Sri Lanka, head coach Gautam Gambhir's first assignment, the Men in Blue tried create right-left combinations while batting throughout the series. For Dayal, the selection has been a redemption after the low of being hit for successive five sixes in the final over of a tense run chase by Rinku Singh during the Gujarat Titans (GT)-Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) match in the Indian Premier League (IPL). After a two-year stint with Gujarat Titans (GT) from 2022-23, which saw him take 13 wickets in 14 games, lift the Indian Premier League (IPL) title and even become a victim of Rinku Singh's death overs carnage during a match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Dayal had a solid season in this year's league with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), as he took 18 wickets in 15 matches and delivered the over which helped the franchise complete six successive wins after a disastrous start to make it to the playoffs. Dayal has had a fine first-class cricket career, taking 76 wickets in 24 matches at an average of 28.89, with best figures of 5/48. In India B's recent win over India A in the Duleep Trophy, Yash took three wickets for India B, including a spell of 3/50 in the fourth innings. Indian squad for first Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, and Yash Dayal. (ANI)
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