This ICC Champions Trophy couldn’t have gotten more interesting – Pakistan shocked everyone by beating England easily to reach the final to be played on Sunday at the Lord’s. Nobody really expected that. So who joins Pakistan – will it be India or Bangladesh?
India are the favorites for this match, but as this tournament has shown so far, anything is possible in cricket. There is no reason to believe that there won’t be an upset later today – this has been a competition full of upsets.
So could Bangladesh beat India and reach the final? That’s well within the realm of possibility. Indian captain Virat Kohli said that no team could be taken lightly in this competition.
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Virat said, “It’s no surprise any more to anyone that they are really playing well. They’ve really improved their cricket, and it’s a credit to their set-up and the kind of players they have now who are taking more responsibility. They are a very dangerous side on their day, and everyone realises that.”
Bangladesh will have to play out of their skin to beat this very professional Indian side. The batting must come together and the bowling should look more mean and effective. They must also find a way to play the likes of R Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who are India’s main bowlers.
Indian bowlers have done very well in this tournament. This is the first time in all our time of watching cricket over the decades when an Indian bowling attack has been just as good, if not better, than the batting line-up. This has been refreshing to see.
Indeed, the fact that someone like Umesh Yadav cannot get a spot in the Indian team shows what a good side it is. India also have a plenty of batting depth with Kedhar Jadhav at No. 6 and Hardik Pandya at No. 7, followed by Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin. This is a stunning batting line-up with an opening pair in fine form, a solid middle-order and an aggressive lower order.
Bangladesh will need to work on their team combination for this match and decide whether they want to play with four fast medium bowlers or go with a spinner. India will go with the same side that played the last game – which means Ashwin in place of Umesh.
The Teams
Bangladesh : 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Taskin Ahmed, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
India : 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 R Ashwin, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Match conditions
Fortunately, the weather has got better in England, so don’t expect any rain during this match. The pitch is a batting paradise, so expect a lot of runs. Birmingham has a large Indian community, so expect plenty of support for the Indians.
Watch Bangladesh play India in the Champions Trophy semi-final at 3:00 PM live on Star Sports!
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