Indore: City spectators once against set to accord a roaring welcome to men-in-white flannels on Thursday as Test match is set to return to Holkar stadium. The much-anticipated first Test of two Test series between India and a depleted-but-gritty Bangladesh will kickstart from the city of Holkars.
Indore, often referred to as mini-Mumbai for its cosmopolitan culture, had to wait for more than three years to get another opportunity to host longest format of the game, after Holkar Stadium, a happy hunting ground for India, last hosted New Zealand in October 2016.
It has been regularly hosting first class matches since inception of the Holkar Stadium (earlier Usha Raje Stadium) in 2006.
This city has a rich cricketing legacy. CK Nayudu was India’s first Test captain while Syed Mushtaq Ali the first player to score a Test hundred outside India. Both belonged to the city.
Later carrying that legacy forward, leg spinner Narendra Hirwani etched his name in record books with a sensational 16-wicket haul in his debut Test against the West Indies in 1987-88 series. In addition, cricket fans can’t forget off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan and wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha who earned Test caps and Amay Khurasia and all-rounder JP Yadav who made it to the ODI team.
The Holkar Stadium got an opportunity to host maiden Test after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in November 2015 announced six new Test venues, including Indore, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Pune, Dharamsala and Ranchi, with the aim to take the longest format of game to every corner of the country.
Pitch will be in spotlight once again
The 22-yard track at the Holkar Stadium has always been a batting paradise with short side boundaries and a bit of bounce to encourage stroke-making. It will be once again be in the spotlight.
Stadium which witnessed swashbuckling Virender Sehwag's record of 219 runs in 2013 against West Indies has only hosted one Test match so far that too in 2016 during New Zealand's tour of India.
India won by 321 runs to seal a 3-0 whitewash, with big hundreds from captain Kohli (211) and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane (188) setting up a big first-innings total and R Ashwin picking up career-best match figures of 13 for 140 to bag the Player of the Match award.
With a fair amount of grass on the surface and overcast condition on the eve of the match, fast bowlers can expect some early help.
Meanwhile, the weather should be warm but pleasant, with clear skies and afternoon temperature in high 20s (Celsius).
Considering the bounce on offer, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav are certainties in the pace line-up with Ishant Sharma, as the third pacer. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are expected to make the squad.
However, Bangladesh’s track record while facing Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan could well entice Kohli to have second thoughts about including Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI.
For Bangladesh’s young guns, the ‘biggest test’ in the Test will be to stretch this Indian team to the fifth day which looks unlikely at the moment.
Records at Holkar Stadium
India is undefeated at this stadium having won all four one-day Internationals and the only Test they have played at the venue.
The Holkar Stadium has only hosted one Test match so far, during New Zealand's tour of India in 2016. India won by 321 runs to seal a 3-0 whitewash.
Rohit Sharma equalled world record for fastest T20 International century (118 off 43 balls) on this very ground against Sri Lanka on December 22, 2017. Team India scored its highest innings total in a T20 International (260/5) in the same match.
