Indian skipper KL Rahul won the toss Wednesday (Dec 14) and send Bangladesh to field first in the first Test in Chittagong.

Shakib Al Hasan, however, passed a fitness test and will captain the home side, who handed opening batsman Zakir Hasan a Test debut.

Meanwhile, India have been hit by injuries with captain Rohit Sharma out for at least the first match and fast bowler Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja playing no part in the series.

According to The Indian Express, "India need to win both matches of the series to stay alive in the race for the World Test Championship final. India has opted to play with three spinners and two pacers. India have never lost a Test match to Bangladesh."

During the toss, Shakib said, "We're playing a Test match after 5 months, that's a big gap but we've prepared well and hopefully, we can put on a good show. This is an important series hopefully, we can put some (WTC) points on the board."

The two-match series forms part of the ICC World Test Championship.

India are fourth, having won six of their 12 matches. Bangladesh are in last place with eight defeats from 10 matches.

Teams:
India: KL Rahul (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Zakir Hasan, Yasir Ali, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain

Umpires: Michael Gough (ENG), Sharfuddoula (BAN)
TV umpire: Chris Brown (NZL)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

BDST: 1247 HRS, DEC 14, 2022
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