India ‘A’ vs Bangladesh ‘A’ 2nd one-dayer, Preview: Visitors need to pull up their socks

After a heavy defeat in the first one-dayer, the Bangladesh ‘A’ side will take on India ‘A’ in the second match of the three-match series at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, on Friday. Owing to the experience of this Mominul Haque-led side, a lot more was expected from them. However, apart from a few sparks, there was not anything significant on display, at least in the first game. They need to put up a better show in the next game, but the loss of pacer Taskin Ahmed due to a side strain is going to disturb their combination and hurt their chances. Unmukt Chand’s India A, on the other hand, would like continue their momentum and take the series with one match to go. READ: Gurkeerat Singh Mann stars in India A’s 96-run win over Bangladesh A

For the Bangladesh ‘A’ team, which has quite a few members who are expected to be in the Test squad against Australia, this tour is  a warm-up. With bat and ball, Heath Streak’s boys have had a patchy start of the tour though. In the batting department, only Liton Das and Nasir Hossain were among runs; their bowlers faded after initial promise, failing to tame the Indian middle-order, after removing the top five batsmen cheaply. READ: Bangladesh A tour of India, perfect warm-up ahead of Australia series

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It is time for their experienced players like Soumya Sarkar, skipper Mominul, Anamul Haque, and Sabbir Rahman to take more responsibility with bat. They need more time at the crease before playing expansive shots. In the bowling department, expectations will also be high for the senior pros like Rubel Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain and Shafiul Islam. The right-arm fast bowler Kamrul Islam Rabbi will replace injured Taskin in the squad. READ: Taskin Ahmed ruled out of Bangladesh A tour of India

There is a lot more calmness in the India A camp. The side looks more settled. The most impressive thing about them is the young members are putting up match-winning performances. Now it’s time for the the seniors to come out with noticeable performances. In this game, all eyes will be on Suresh Raina, who failed to make hay in the first game. Apart from Raina, the performances of Mayank Agarwal, who is having a good run of late, will be closely monitored. Unmukt and Manish Pandey will be look to put up a good show as well. READ: Gurkeerat admits to thriving in pressure cooker-like situations

There are no changes expected in the India A playing eleven. Rahul Dravid, the coach of this team, will be looking for another commanding performance from his boys.

Squads:

India ‘A’: Unmukt Chand (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Karan Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, S. Aravind, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rush Kalaria, Gurkeerat Singh Mann

Bangladesh ‘A’: Mominul Haque (c), Litton Das (wk), Anamul Haque, Rony Talukdar, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Saqlain Sajib, Shuvagata Hom, Rubel Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi

Time: 09:30 IST

(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)