Published: Feb 24, 2016, 06:31 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 24, 2016, 07:34 PM (IST)
India face Bangladesh in the opening match of Asia Cup T20 2016 at Dhaka on Wednesday. Keeping the upcoming ICC World T20 2016 in mind, Asia Cup is being played in the T20 format for the very first time. India are coming off from two excellent wins in the previous two T20I series. They defeated Australia in the three-match T20I series Down Under followed by a 2-1 win against Sri Lanka in the home series. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s dominance at home cannot be ignored. They beat these opponents in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) i 2015 when India had toured Bangladesh. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs Bangladesh, 1st Match of Asia Cup T20 2016 at Dhaka
Indian skipper MS Dhoni was given a green signal ahead of the first match against Bangladesh after suffering from back spasms. It will not eb wrong to consider India as the clear favourites ahead of this fixture. With the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, India has one of the most destructive top-orders in the shorter format. Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza termed India’s batting-up to be the best in the world at present. FULL CRICKET UPDATES: India (IND) vs Bangladesh (BAN), Asia Cup 2016 T20 Match 1, Dhaka
However, he went on to say that Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman has the capability of crushing any kind of batting line-up. “Mustafiz (that’s how Mashrafe refers to him) has many variations of his slow cutters. It is only important as to how confident he is about the execution part. He does he not focus on opposition batsmen and only concentrates on what he knows best,” Mortaza added.
Meanwhile, according to ESPN Cricinfo, Kohli suggested that Asia Cup will allow India to do their homework for the upcoming ICC World T20. “As many different teams as we play before the World T20, it gives us an opportunity to assess what the teams are like, what the balance is like, what their strengths and weaknesses are and where we stand against them,” he said.
