‘They Are The Number One Team’: Shakib Al Hasan Lauds Indian Team Ahead Of Second Test vs BAN

Veteran Bangladesh player Shakib Al Hasan feels that pitch does not matter when you are playing against top-notch teams like India. The all-rounder decoded it is tough to face the Asian giants after the Bangla Tigers lost the first Test match by  280 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Initially, the visitors started on a good note with Hasan Mahmud picking a five-wicket haul.

Eventually, Ravichandran Ashwin spoiled their party as he ended up scoring a century and also scalped a five-wicket haul. On the back of Ashwin’s brilliant run, the Indian team took the game away from Bangla Tigers. 

Shakib reserved big praise for the Indian team ahead of the second Test match which is set to be played in Kanpur from Friday.

"If I talk about India, they are the number one team in the World Championship at this moment. They are probably unbeatable at home. I saw a stat somewhere where for some 4000 days they have been unbeaten in India. So, that shows how good they are in India,” Shakib said at the press conference.

"They have been doing well outside India as well. Any country that came to India finding it difficult, we are no different there. But having said that, we have to play really well against them to be able to show the fight that we feel like we can put on," he said.

Meanwhile, the legendary all-rounder announced his retirement from T20Is and Test cricket. But then, he will continue to take part in the ODI format for Bangladesh.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant (WK), Akash Deep, Yash Dayal, Kuldeep Yadav, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shubman Gill.

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Shakib Al Hasan, Nahid Rana, Mominul Haque, Litton Kumer Das, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Jaker Ali Anik, Taijul Islam, Shadman Islam.