Former Pakistani captain Ramiz Raja, who also served as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman in 2022, was full of praise for the Indian men’s cricket team following their dominant show in the recently concluded two-match Test series against Bangladesh. Despite a few hiccups in their batting, India whitewashed the Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side in the first home series of the 2024-25 season.
Speaking in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Ramiz talked about how India easily overcame Bangladesh in the Test series. He also added that India is the strongest cricket-playing nation in the world when playing at home.
“India won the Test match easily against Bangladesh. At this point, India is the strongest team to beat on their home soil,” he said.
He further said that it would be a ‘dream’ for any cricketing side to beat India at home. Talking about how Bangladesh did not have the required ‘capacity’ to beat India, he said, “Bangladesh had to do a lot to give a tough time to such a successful team because winning a Test match can only be a dream for any visiting team. Bangladesh didn’t have the capacity to challenge India.”
India won the series opener played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai by 280 runs, and in the second match played at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, the Rohit Sharma-led side hammered Bangladesh by 7 wickets.
After the conclusion of the two-match Test series, both teams will now face each other in a three-match T20I series, which is set to start on October 6 in Gwalior. Suryakumar Yadav will lead India in the shortest format series, and no player who featured in the Test series is picked in India’s 15-member T20I squad.
In the absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma will open the innings with wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, who has managed to retain his place in the T20I squad despite scoring two ducks in the last assignment against Sri Lanka in July 2024.
Hardik Pandya is part of the T20I squad, and Lucknow Super Giants pacer Mayank Yadav, who made headlines for his express pace in IPL 2024, is also part of the squad for the first time ever in his career.
