A historic moment for both teams: Kohli

India skipper Virat Kohli has termed Bangladesh's first bilateral tour of India as 'historic' and hopes that the Tigers visit India more often.

Speaking to reporters during the pre-match press conference yesterday, he said: “They have not come to India much is what I have really recently found out. We have gone to Bangladesh quite a bit. I don't think they have ever been here for a bilateral before this. So yeah, it is a historic moment for both the teams, and the countries as well. I hope this can happen much more.

“We have gone there way too many times (laughs). I think they should also start coming here and it will be great for them as well to play in India. I think it's a great place to play cricket; big crowds in. They will certainly enjoy.”

“They had one game in the world T20. I think it should happen more often.  It is a special occasion and I just happen to be the captain at this time. It is indeed going to be a special day,” he added.

The Indian mainstay also believes that the Tigers should be given more chances to play Test cricket in order to help them improve.

“I think they have the skill. They just don't play that many Test matches to gain confidence as a Test squad. It's very basic. They have become a very good one-day side because of the fact that they have played many one-dayers and they know their combination. If you don't play Test cricket too often, you will never understand the mindset. So I think that's where it comes from.

“They have beaten all one-day sides because they know exactly how to play that format. Because they play it regularly.  You can practice as much as you want but game time is something different. The more Test cricket they play, ability is going to be there it's just the mindset that changes from format to format,” said Kohli.

“I am sure when they play Test cricket they will become solid Test players, and a solid Test team as well because they have that game time behind them. I think that should be pushed. They certainly have the skill to compete at the Test level,” he added.

With regards to the current series, he expects the Tigers to come hard against the hosts.

“It's an equal battle. You can't discount Bangladesh's batting as well. They did outstanding in New Zealand, it was an outstanding effort to score more than 350 runs in one day. It was phenomenal. Going at 4.5 runs an over throughout the day was something very special.

“We can't take any aspect of their team lightly. They have quality cricketers,” said Kohli.