When was the last time India elected to bowl first in a home test after winning the toss?

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first in the IND vs BAN Kanpur test.

The 2nd IND vs BAN test at Green Park in Kanpur got underway on September 27, Friday, with a one-hour delayed start due to wet outfield. This is the second and last test of the ongoing series.

The hosts won the first test in Chennai by 280 runs, courtesy of a terrific all-round performance from Ravichandran Ashwin.

The toss took place at 10:00 AM at Green Park. The home team’s captain, Rohit Sharma, won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Rohit’s decision to bowl first was surprising. What was further a talking point right after the toss was the while India retained their XI from the Chennai test, which included three pacers, Bangladesh picked three spinners in their XI.

Sharma hinted that his decision to go with three pacers and bowl first was influenced by the soft pitch and some grass on it.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said he wanted to bat first anyway. This means that both teams have read the pitch in Kanpur differently.

Rohit’s decision to bowl first took everyone back a bit because rarely do captains winning the toss in Indian conditions opt to bowl first. Generally the trend in India, or rather Asia, is of captains electing to bat first after winning the toss.

This fact can be further highlighted when we go back a long way to see when was the last time an Indian captain elected to field first after winning the toss in home conditions.

When was the last time India elected to bowl first in a home test after winning the toss?

The last time India opted to bowl first after winning the toss in a home test match was in 2015 in the Bangalore test against South Africa. The last time a captain elected to bowl first in a test in Kanpur was in 1964 when Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi inserted England.

Playing XIs:

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das(w), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

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