Published: Mar 23, 2016, 07:06 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 23, 2016, 07:06 PM (IST)
Bangladesh’s troubles seem to have mounted up with their likely exit from the T20 World Cup 2016 and their front line bowler Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny being banned due to illegal action. Mashrafe Mortaza couldn’t even hold back his tears letting all out in a post match Press Conference. His captaincy was the talk of the town during Asia Cup which all of a sudden shifted into a bad phase in T20 World Cup 2016. They lost the match against an inexperienced Australian side due to dropped catches, sloppy fielding and poor decision making. Tamim Iqbal’s injury has also affected the visitors. They will be entering this with an intent to diminish India’s hopes of getting into semi-finals. A few changes can be expected from them analysing Bengaluru’s pitch conditions. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs Bangladesh, T20 World Cup 2016, Match No.25 at Bengaluru
Top Order: Tamim Iqbal’s celebration after scoring a century against Oman was short lived as he pulled a hamstring forcing him to sit on the bench during T20 World Cup 2016. Promoting Mohammad Mithun due to his unavailability worked to an extent for Bangladesh in last match. Soumya Sarkar hasn’t been consistent giving away his wicket early. Though, he scored fairly against India in the final of Asia Cup. Sabbir Rahman is the most consistent batsman in recent times but tends to lose control when runs are not coming easy.They will be up against veteran Ashish Nehra, Ravichandran Ashwin who have a knack of picking up wickets in powerplay overs along with yorker specialist Jasprit Bumrah.
Middle Order: Bangladesh’s middle order relies frequently on Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah. Shakib tries to play the role of an anchor and hitting the ball when he settles whereas Mahmudullah starts hitting from the first ball and has succeeded to do so in last few months. New entrant Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury is the new edition to the middle order who failed against Australia but might be given a chance against India keeping in mind he is a spin option too. Wicket keeper Mushfiqur Rahim can hit a few given the platform by batsmen. They will be facing a round of spin and death over specialist Bumrah.
Lower Order and Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza is the only recognised batsman in their lower order who can hit the ball,He showed his hitting abilities in a must win situation against Pakistan in Asia Cup to help his team reach finals. Bangladesh won’t be relying on Al-Amin Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman for scoring runs. There is a chance of Nasir Hossain’s inclusion in the side for today’s match as he can contribute with both bat and ball.
In bowling department Mustafizur Rahman’s return brings quality to Bangladesh bowling. His in-swings and off cutters can prove lethal in the game. Al Amin Hossain’s form is a confidence booster for Bangladesh who can reduce the top order into shreds. Mashrafe Mortaza is not in his best of form. Shakib Al Hasan, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah will contribute in middle overs to block the flow of runs.They need to pull off some extra special skills to remove in-form batsman Virat Kohli.
Bangladesh’s Likely XI (Batting Order): Mohammad Mithun, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, Mahumudullah, Mushfiqur Rahman(wk), Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Nasir Hossain, Al-Almin Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman
(Arun Rawal, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a daydreamer, movie buff, and cricket fanatic. He could not play cricket, so did the next best thing, writing for it. He loves to play the flick shot over square leg, and believes Sachin Tendulkar is God. His twitter handle is @ArunRawal93)
