Published: Feb 23, 2016, 12:23 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 23, 2016, 03:32 PM (IST)
MS Dhoni-led Indian cricket team will begin an extremely crucial phase on Wednesday evening, when they take on a strong Bangladesh side in the opening match of the Asia Cup 2016. For the first time in the history, the tournament will be played in Twenty20 format, which will serve as a prelude and a preparatory campaign for all participating teams, ahead of ICC World T20 2016. It is that time of the year when T20 cricket is played in abundance, with all action shifting to the Indian subcontinent with as many as three consecutive T20 tournaments lined up. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India (IND) vs Bangladesh (BAN), Asia Cup 2016 T20 Match 1, Dhaka
The opening match will be played at the Shere Bangla National stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka on Wednesday evening. The Indian team reached Bangladesh a few days ago and has been preparing for the big tournament at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah. ALSO READ – MS Dhoni retirement: Indian captain being hounded ahead of Asia Cup and ICC World T20 2016
There are a few concerns for the Indian cricket team ahead of the tournament. Captain Dhoni suffered a back spasm and Parthiv Patel was drafted in as back-up wicketkeeper; Mohammed Shami, who played a key role in India’s splendid performance in the last global tournament (ICC Cricket World Cup 2015), has already been ruled out of the tournament. There is no update on Dhoni’s situation yet, and the Indian skipper will be closely watched in the lead-up to this match.
Virat Kohli has returned to the side and that will bolster the batting line-up. Dhoni has conceded there is no room for him in the top-order, which means Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will open and Kohli will bat at No. 3. India may play around with the rest of their options in Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, and Hardik Pandya for the remaining of middle-order slots.
Dhoni has also claimed that he remains determined to give every squad member at least one match before the ICC World T20 2016, which means that Pawan Negi can expect his international debut sometime during the Asia Cup (possibly against UAE). But it remains to be seen whether India will hand debut to Negi with their first two matches being against strong sides in Bangladesh and Pakistan. ALSO READ: Asia Cup 2016: India will not take Bangladesh lightly, says Ravi Shastri
The bowling department seems well settled with experienced men in Ashish Nehra and Ravichandran Ashwin leading the charge. Nehra will have the support of Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, while Ashwin will attack with his aide Ravindra Jadeja from the other end. After a long time, Indian bowling attack finally looks capable of doing both: restricting the opponents as well as skilful enough to bowl them out.
On the other hand, the only aim Bangladesh must be having will be to continue their good work. However, they may face troubles at the top with Tamim Iqbal taking a break for the birth of his first child and Imrul Kayes coming in as replacement. Mashrafe Mortaza will continue to lead Bangladesh and the presence of senior cricketers Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar and Mustafizur Rahman will strengthen the Bangladeshi side. The only change which the Bangladeshi side will have for this series is Tamim being replaced by Kayes for the ICC World T20 2016.
A win here will be extremely important for India, who will then be taking on their arch rivals Pakistan in a thrilling clash on Saturday.
Squads:
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah Riyad, Nasir Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Arafat Sunny, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Abu Hider.
India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Parthiv Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi.
Time: 19:00 IST | 19:30 local | 13:30 GMT
(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
