||CF Correspondent ||

Mominul Haque won the all-important toss on his captaincy debut for Bangladesh in the longer version format and decided to bat first without any second thought in the first  Test against India at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Thursday.

Considering the nature of the pitch, Mominul said he opted to bat first.

"Hard deck, so batting first. May break in the fourth innings though. It’s an honour for captaining Bangladesh, only a very few people get it. We have taken seven batters and four bowlers,” Mominul said after the toss.

Young Saif Hassan though was in discussion to make his debut, Bangladesh chose to play it safe and included experienced Imrul Kayes, who is playing his first Test after one year.

Bangladesh also drafted in two pacers in Abu Jayed and Ebadat Hossain who were not the part of the side’s last Test against Afghanistan at home.

India captain Virat Kohli however said he would have bowled if he wins the toss, predicting that the first day pitch will offer some resistance to the bowlers.

The “Men in Blue” just brought up one change from their previous Test squad with Ishant Sharma returning to the fold, replacing spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.

 "It has a bit of grass. Historically, Indore's been a bit spicy on day one, so we would've bowled first to be honest. We have three pacers, so ideal for them, who are in top form. We assumed day two onwards it will be a beautiful track to bat on, so that was the main reason to want to bowl first as well,” he said.

Line Ups:

Bangladesh: Imrul Kayes, Shadman Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Mominul Haque (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Abu jayed, Ebadot Hossain.