Indian captain Rohit Sharma elected to field first after winning the toss in the second Test match against Bangladesh at Green Park in Kanpur on Friday and it marks the first instance when a team winning the toss opted to bowl first in consecutive men's Test in India. (Day 1 Blog | More Cricket News)
Bangladesh won the toss in the first Test match at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and invited the hosts to bat first. They also managed to get six early wickets on the opening day. But Bangladesh lost the momentum and eventually suffered a 280-run defeat.
The last time India opted to bowl first in a home Test was in Bengaluru in 2015. The match against South Africa was the only instance under Virat Kohli's captaincy when he invited the opponents to bat first in a home Test.
24 Test matches have been played at Kanpur's Green Park to date but this is the only second instance when a captain elected to bowl first. The first one came in 1964 when Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was captaining the Indian side against England.
The toss in Kanpur was delayed for an hour due to a wet outfield. There are predictions of more rain in the coming days.
India are playing the same team as the Chennai Test but Bangladesh have made two changes in their playing XI. Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana have been rested and Taijul Islam along with Khaled Ahmed have been included.
India are leading the two-match bilateral Test series 1-0 after a big 280-run win in the first Test in Chennai. The ongoing second Test match in Kanpur is most probably the farewell Test match of Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.
