‘India unbeatable at home, Pakistan inexperienced’: Shakib ends baseless comparison
Calling India "unbeatable" at home, Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan highlighted the difference between the Rohit Sharma-led side and Pakistan.
Before coming to India, Bangladesh pulled off a historic 2-0 series win in Pakistan, which gave rise to hopes of a miracle win against India. However, that didn't happen in the first Test in Chennai, as India hammered them by 280 runs.
Shakib said Pakistan is an inexperienced Test side, but that cannot be said about India, which has an unmatchable record at home. "Pakistan is a relatively new team. In experience, I would say, if you look at the matches they played and if you look at our team and the matches we have played, we have got more experience than them. And in Test cricket I think that is a massive factor," Shakib said in the pre-match press conference before the second Test against India in Kanpur.
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The former Bangladesh captain, who announced his T20I retirement on Thursday and hinted that the Kanpur Test against India can also be his last in red-ball cricket, highlighted India's spotless record at home in the last decade or so.
India haven't lost a Test series at home for 12 years now. They have 17 series in a row since losing to England in 2012-13. Pakistan, on the other hand, have been struggling to win at home. Before losing to Bangladesh, they drew the series against New Zealand and lost to England (3-0). In fact, Pakistan last Test at home was against South Africa in 2021-22.
"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.
"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," Shakib added.
Pitches not a problem: Shakib
Bangladesh are yet to beat India in the longest format. The two teams have played 14 times against each other with India winning 12 contests while the remaining two ended in draws.
"If you look at other countries, every now and then they will lose one or two games. But in India, you hardly see them losing in Test matches. So yes, I would say you are right," Shakib told reporters when asked if a tour to India was indeed the toughest assignment.
"We won against them in the ODI series in Bangladesh, we were very close to win a game against them in a Test match in Bangladesh. In Test cricket, we haven't got the success that we are looking for. Tomorrow we will have another opportunity.
"I thought in patches we played really well in Chennai. But having said that, finishing the match in three-and-a-half days wasn't ideal for us. We felt like we were a better team than that. So, we need to show that in tomorrow's match," he added.
