Bangladesh series not dress rehearsal for Australia tour, says India’s Rohit

“It’s tough. Not easy when you haven’t played for eight months of Test cricket. But a lot of us have experienced this before,” said skipper Rohit Sharma two days before India take on Bangladesh in the home season opener in Chennai.

The camp in Chennai, however, helped. “We assembled here on the 12th and have had a good time spending hours on the field, getting everything together. Guys who have not played a lot of Test cricket went on to play the Duleep Trophy, which was good. So, in terms of preparation, I feel we are quite ready for this game and what lies ahead of us. So, it was a good little prep that we had before this Test match.”

India are looking at a busy calendar in the next three months. They first play Bangladesh in a two-Test series and a three-match T20I series before hosting New Zealand for three Tests that will end in the first week of November. They will then leave for Australia where India will play five Tests in eight weeks. The stakes are high as not only will India seek to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy they also have to be mindful of being consistent in winning to stay in the race for the World Test Championship final next year.