IND vs BAN: Three things India are targeting from two Test matches against Bangladesh?

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IND vs BAN: The big white-ball season is over, and purists of the game can't keep themselves calm as the Indian cricket team is returning to red-ball action after six months.

India will be up against Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series from Thursday, September 19. Rohit Sharma's men will play a total of 10 Tests until January 7, 2025. These Tests are important as India are looking to qualify for their third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) final.

The series against Bangladesh cannot be taken lightly by India. Captain Rohit Sharma has already stated that it's not just a dress-rehearsal opportunity for the team ahead of the next two series against New Zealand and Australia respectively.

Bangladesh have landed in India on the back of a historic 2-0 win in Pakistan. They have already sent out a warning - 'India - do not take us lightly'.

India, the top-ranked team in the WTC 2023-25 standings, will look to achieve at least three targets from the two matches. In case Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir successfully achieve all the three targets, their path against New Zealand and Australia would surely be less challenging.

To get into Test cricket mode: After two months of IPL, a T20 World Cup campaign, and white-ball tours of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe - the Indian cricket team is finally returning to Test cricket for the first time since March 9.

While some players took part in the first-round Duleep Trophy 2024 first-class matches, a few like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj opted otherwise. In fact, Kohli's last red-ball outing came back in the first week of January.

It will be important for India to comeback in the grinding Test cricket mode. India's tone for the next four months will be set in Chennai. The venue has traditionally supported spinners, and India batters will have the opportunity to restore the pride of the past when the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and coach Gambhir himself would comfortably bat all day against spin.

Rishabh Pant's successful Test comeback: Test cricket's prodigal son Rishabh Pant is making his comeback in the format after almost 21 months. He recently scored a 34-ball fifty in Duleep Trophy, and would be hoping for an equally smooth transition at the international level.

Pant, India's certified match-winner in Test cricket, needs to quickly find his red-ball mojo back as India gear for the upcoming five-Test series in Australia from November 22. He has played a key role in the past two series wins of India in Australia.

The southpaw's style of play has taken the game away from oppositions in single sessions, and as the x-factor of Pant makes its way back in the Indian Test team, all wait in eagerness. The hosts will want to witness a successful Test comeback for their prized wicketkeeper-batter.

Fine tune their batting unit ahead of Australia tour: India's batting unit is already in its transition period. Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are already out of the team. Shreyas Iyer, who was expected to take over the middle-order responsibility, is also sitting out.

KL Rahul has returned to the squad and needs to crack the way to succeed in Tests. His average of 34.08 is the lowest among specialist India Test batters with 50 or more Test matches for the country. Yashasvi Jaiswal is starting his career, Shubman Gill is trying to find his feet at number three, Virat Kohli is not the Test run-machine he used to be in the past, Pant is returning after a long absence due to his near-fatal car accident, and there are also two new-comers in Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan.

India need to fine tune their batting unit and batting order, and there would be no better opportunity than the two Test matches against Bangladesh.