Sports: It's not often that an India-Bangladesh Test series is being looked forward to with such high anticipation. Maybe it has to do with the unusual 42-day break between two international assignments for the Indian cricket team. Maybe it's because Bangladesh did what they did in Pakistan. Maybe it's because the first match of the Test series is in Chennai and the spin woes of the Indian batters in Sri Lanka were exhibited and exposed like never before. Maybe it's because Bangladesh spinners have enough ability to turn the heat on if push comes to shove. 

At the start of the year, an India-Bangladesh Test series at home for the two-time World Test Championship finalists might have seemed like a cakewalk. But is it still? Think again! Given how Bangladesh batters, spinners and pacers combined to beat Pakistan on Pindi roads, it's enough indication that the visitors are not the ones to be steamrolled. And given how Sri Lankan spinners made Indian batters dance to their tunes, that three-match ODI series should be a sizeable and timely reminder of how poor they have been against quality spin in conditions which have the juice to be sucked out for the slower bowlers.

The recent ODI series against Sri Lanka was a nightmare for the whole team, the new coach Gautam Gambhir and even the fans, seeing the Indian batting fall like a pack of cards once the opening partnership was broken. As many as 27 wickets fell to spinners as the Sri Lankan attack of Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jaffrey Vandersay, Maheesh Theekshana and part-timer Charith Asalanka ate the Indian line-up and left no crumbs. So it didn't matter if India had an opening partnership of 75 in one game or 97 in another, the middle-order was only coming in to bat to leave.

Signs of improvement or numbers not telling the whole story?

Of course, India did well against England at home earlier this year. The combined experience of the England spinners coming into the India series was one. Shoaib Bashir made his debut and Tom Hartley, who is now nowhere near the Test side was also playing for the first time. Hence, you see the player averages against spin what they are - in excess of 50 for the top three. 

However, if you take this data cumulatively, the real picture comes through. India lost 62 wickets to spin across five Tests with an average of 37 per dismissal, which is nothing to write home about considering the quality of the spinners and the nature of the surfaces throughout the series. The five-match Test series between India and England produced some of the best surfaces recently in India for the longest format, given that dust bowls were at the disposal of the side, especially in the last two years.

Also since the average per dismissal against pacers stands at 46 for 15 wickets, it can't be denied that the spinners have had a number on the Indian batters of late in Test cricket. Now that we are into the numbers, let's dig a little deeper and go back to the Bangladesh-India series in Bangladesh, where the visitors almost achieved a record that no other Indian team did before that - lose a Test match to Bangladesh.

What happened last time in Bangladesh?

Thanks to Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin's rescue act, India avoided any mishap but the performances of the batters against Bangladesh spinners in Chattogram and Mirpur would be the less talked about, the better. Cheteshwar Pujara and Iyer were the two best batters for India throughout the series but are no longer with the Test team. The likes of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul averaged 16.5 and 14 respectively against spin in those two Tests in Bangladesh.

Fast forward two years, the same spin trio of Mehidy Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam is travelling to India in 2024, now with the confidence of having turned a team upside down away from home. The last time, the trio picked up 25 Indian wickets combined across four innings. Mehidy has his tails up with another 10-wicket haul this time in Pakistan and even though Indian surfaces will provide much better contest between bat and ball, the average per wicket of 33 the last time around is a worrying sign.

It's good that the drop from 37 (during the series against England at home) to 33 (during the Bangladesh series away) isn't too alarming. However, the issue still persists that even at home, the batters have been frail against spin and unable to counter it. The difference between 37 and 33 isn't huge, however, there is a stark contrast in the level of experience and quality among Bangladesh spinners, who have played day-in and day-out in sub-continental conditions, and the three youngsters for England, who despite being inexperienced had their moments in the five-match assignment.

In the recent series against Pakistan, the conditions were more in the batters' favour but regardless of the nature of the surfaces in Rawalpindi, Bangladesh bowled as a unit. On a placid track in the first Test where Pakistan went in with four pacers, Bangladesh dismantled their batting line-up with spin, especially in their second innings. Mehidy picked up four wickets and Shakib three as Bangladesh ended up winning by 10 wickets in the series opener.

A 2-0 win in Pakistan would obviously have their morale high and India would want to take them lightly at their own peril. With Virat Kohli back, India have their first-choice line-up ready for the series, however, there is a slight concern, especially with the top Indian batters' record against spin only.

The 'spin' factor that needs a 'turn'around

Kohli, who has a career average of 58.65 against spin, averages exactly half of it since 2021. In 12 innings, Kohli has been dismissed on seven occasions by the spinners, while it gets murkier for others like Rahul and skipper Rohit Sharma. Rahul's average too gets reduced from 42.7 to 27.8 but Rohit in 32 innings has batted against spin, has been dismissed by spinners on 20 occasions since 2021.

"One of the challenges I wasn't expecting and I kind of overlooked is the playing of spin by Indian batters," Ryan ten Doeschate, the new assistant coach, had told TalkSport Cricket after the horror ODI series against Sri Lanka. And it's not even about Bangladesh or Sri Lanka as venues. Even at home, India lost 198 wickets to spin from the 2019-2024 period while in a similar five-year period from 2001 to 2005, only 138 wickets were lost to spinners at home. And those were the days of Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Danish Kaneria, some of the best spinners this game has seen.