India v Bangladesh Prediction: Ravindra to trump Ravichandran in 2nd Test

India host Bangladesh on Friday at Kanpur with a start time of 05:00 as they look to make it 2-0 and increase their chances of a top two spot in the WTC. The match is live on TNT Sports 1 from 05:00 UK time.

Jamie Pacheco came very close to a 18/1 winner last time out and the man he was on is the subject of one of his bets again, while he’s also putting faith in Ravi Jadeja to outbowl Ravi Ashwin as we go through his India vs Bangladesh Predictions for the 2nd Test...

1st Test Recap  

India won well despite a pretty poor start with the bat. Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja started the recovery job with excellent knocks before dismissing Bangladesh for just 149, then scoring some quick second-innings runs and letting the spinners do the rest. Ashwin walked away with the Man-of the-match award after a first-innings century and six second-innings wickets.  

What none of this tells you though is that we came within just one hit of an 18/1 chance winning. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was on 27, needing just six to beat Shakib's 32 but left Number 11 Nahid Rana facing the first ball of the next over and he was duly cleaned up by Mohammad Siraj. Close but no Cohiba.  On we go.  

India  

Their biggest positive will have been the superb contributions of 39 and 109 by Rishabh Pant who had been out of Tests for almost two years but looked like he'd never been away with sweet timing, big hits and unorthodox shots that reminded us all why he was so missed in the first place.  

There was also a century for Shubman Gill and another five wickets to Jasprit Bumrah's collection. Jadeja had a good all-round game as usual, too.  

Akash Deep is likely to make way for an extra spinner. It should be a straight choice between Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel with Patel just about favourite to get the gig.   

Possible XI:  Sharma, Jaiswal, Gill, Kohli, Rahul, Pant, Jadeja, Ashwin, Axar Patel/Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj.  

Bangladesh  

They'll be disappointed to have allowed India to get as many as they did in the first innings after having them in real trouble but it was a reminder that though this is a good crop of players, they're still a couple of notches below the real champions of the game.  

As I hinted before the match, India were unlikely to fold under pressure the way Pakistan did a couple of weeks earlier.  

Shakib had a finger injury and has been cleared to play but his bowling was pretty woeful and he's simply not the player he was, so though he'll play, it's maybe not as much of a fillip as the Tigers think it is.  

Mahmudul Joy may come in to open at the expense of either Shadman Islam or Zakir Hasan with Taijul Islam also likely to play after being left out in the first game. An odd decision given he's been their best bowler over the last couple of years as Shakib's powers have waned.  

Possible XI: Hasan, Joy, Shanto, Haque, Rahim, Shakib, Das, Mehidi Hasan Miraz, Mahmud, Taskin, Taijul.  

Pitch and conditions  

We're at Kanpur for this one, one of those grounds that has black soil rather than red, which means plenty of turn could be on the cards here.   

But we may have to wait a couple of days to see it at its most unplayable. In 2021 India played New Zealand here and both were able to get close to 300 first up before the wicket started deteriorating; but there wasn't enough time left in the game to produce a result. There may be a repeat of that where decent first innings scores are manageable but batsmen struggle the second time round as the spinners take over.  

Last time Axar (6 in the match), Jadeja (5) and Ashwin (6) were all in the wickets so there's a clue, as if one was needed, as to how the surface may play.   

And back in 2016 the game went a similar way, also against New Zealand, but this time India had enough time to finish them off. Jadeja, with another excellent all-round display, was MOM in that one.  

Ah the weather. That little detail. There are thunderstorms scheduled for days two or three and a combination of heavy rain and poor drainage could take plenty of time out of the game, in the process giving Bangladesh belief they can avoid defeat.  

India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test Odds

The weather is why India are 4/5 rather than say 1/5.  It's 28/1 on an unlikely Bangladesh win and 11/10 the draw.  

If we assume we can take the Tigers win out of the equation, which of the two do we prefer?  

The answer is the India win. One way to play it is to take the early 4/5, hope not too many overs are lost to rain and hope that late in the day the spinners can take wickets quickly enough to force a result. The likes of Ashwin, Jadeja and Patel are certainly more than capable.  

Or you can be a bit greedier, hope either team gets a decent first innings score and back India at around 2.5 in live betting when the rain comes.  

*You can check out all of our markets and Cricket Odds over at betfred.com

India Top Bowler 

Ashwin is the 7/4 favourite and that's hardly surprising. He took two wickets in the first innings and six in the second innings in the First Test and as we know had a big game the last time India were in action here.  He's also an off-spinner up against plenty of left-handers in that Bangladesh line-up so many will see that as an added bonus.  

But Jadeja (12/5) almost matched his six wickets last time out with five, did the same in that 2021 match here in Kanpur and before that also in 2016, so he's had plenty of joy here before.  

Simple as it may sound, the Tigers may be so concerned with the threat of Ashwin and his box of tricks that they may well fall to Jadeja's quicker, straighter ones.   

With not much to choose between them and at a bigger price, I prefer Jadeja.