It could have gone so horribly wrong in the last match against Pakistan when fast bowler Mohammad Sami was on fire and looked set to run through the Indian batting line-up, having already picked up the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina in quick succession.
But India had Virat Kohli in their side, and Virat stood like a rock between India and defeat, once again winning the match from an impossible situation for his country. India had a player like Virat once, he was called the Little Master. Is Virat the new Sachin Tendulkar? Why not – like Tendulkar, Virat carries the weight of expectations of a billion people on his shoulders.
So, India are very much back in the World Cup, while their opponents Bangladesh are almost out of it, having lost their first two matches to Pakistan and Australia. Bangladesh have been completely devastated due to the action taken against fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for their illegal bowling action. Investigations are still on and the two face the risk of being banned permanently from international cricket, unless they change their bowling action.
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Bangladesh will have Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan as the main bowlers but really could do with Taskin amazing pace with the new ball. Taskin’s absence is a serious blow to Bangladesh and it really does upset their plans.
India have a decision to make on Suresh Raina. He has played far too many matches for them where he just hasn’t contributed. There is a lot of talk in the media about Raina being given a spot in the Indian team ahead of the more talented Ajinkya Rahane because of his personal friendship with captain MS Dhoni.
Well, regardless of why Raina keeps getting picked again and again for India, it is quite clear that it’s not working. India simply have no choice but to play Rahane in his place. But the word on the street is that Raina will get another chance to play for the country. That’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it is with the Indian team.
But luckily for India, Yuvraj Singh seems to have found some form. Rohit Sharma is due a big one and Shikhar can win a match for his side on his day. M S Dhoni has looked good in the limited occasions he has had a chance to bat.
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The bowling, surprisingly, has turned out to be India’s biggest strength with R Ashwin and Ashish Nehra leading the attack and Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Patel lending great support. Bumrah has been hard to get away, especially in the slog overs. He has amazing knack for bowling yorkers on a consistent basis. He is certainly a great find for India.
The Teams
India : 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Ashish Nehra
Bangladesh : 1 Tamim Iqbal/Mohammad Mithun, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Nasir Hossain/Shuvagata Hom, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Al-Amin Hossain, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Saqlain Sajib
Match Conditions
It’s been very hot in Bangalore over the past couple of weeks. There is no possibility of rain, so we expect the match to go on as scheduled. The Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore has always been a great track for batting and we expect that to be the case in this match as well.
Watch India play Bangladesh tomorrow in the World T20 at 7:30 PM live on Star Sports!
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