Holding the Duleep Trophy just before the Test series against Bangladesh starts is one of the smartest moves by the BCCI. It’s never easy for the best of players to go cold into an international competition, never mind the quality of the opposition.

By beating Pakistan in both the Test matches played in Pakistan, the Bangladesh team have shown that they are a force to reckon with. Even a couple of years back, when India toured Bangladesh, they were given a good fight by the Bangladeshis. Now with the series win against Pakistan under their belt, they are primed to take on India too. They have some fine players in their ranks and some new promising players who no longer have the awe of the opposition that seemed to characterise their early forays into the international game. Now, every team that play them know they can’t put their guard down as they could be knocked down as the Pakistanis found out. It will certainly be a series to look forward to.