India take on Bangladesh in their second Super Four game of the ongoing Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday, September 24. India have been the best team so far in this tournament, and are yet to be defeated. Led by Suryakumar Yadav and coached by Gautam Gambhir, India are well-prepared and use their opponents’ weaknesses. Their pace bowling department did not do particularly well against Pakistan in their previous outing. However, India could give a befitting reply to their opponents via their batters.
Bangladesh won their last game, which was their first encounter in the Super Four stage of this tournament, against Sri Lanka. They were helped by opener Saif Hassan. His 61-run knock gave them a good start at the top of the order. The Bangla Tigers, led by Litton Das, seem to have a lot of bench strength in their unit. Yet, their main aim in this game will be to knock India off their perch. Perhaps the only way in which Bangladesh can challenge India is by using their spin attack to good effect. However, they still must be at their very best to target a side as good as India.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah, a legendary figure in world cricket thanks to his exploits with the ball in hand, suffered against Pakistan. So Bangladesh can also target him inside the powerplay. The Gujarat speedster erred in his lines and lengths. If the likes of Hassan, Das and Tanzid Hasan Tamim take him on inside the first six overs, they might end up getting Bangladesh off to an excellent start indeed. On the other hand, Bangladesh’s bowlers must stick to effective lengths since the Indian batters give their opponents very little room for error with their fabulous shotmaking abilities.
Predicted Teams
IND: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy.
BAN: Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Litton Das (c & wk), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman.
Key Players
Shubman Gill (IND): India’s Test captain Shubman Gill plays under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is. He scored a quickfire 47 against Pakistan and showed why he can be a commodity in this format of the game as well. Gill is known to play on the rise and take on pacers inside the powerplay, mostly by playing conventional shots such as drives, cuts and pulls.
Mustafizur Rahman (BAN): Despite the Bangladeshi seam bowling unit’s struggles in this tournament, Mustafizur Rahman has stood tall with two consecutive three-wicket hauls now. Rahman is usually given the ball in the death of the innings by captain Das. He can be trusted to fox batters with his cutters, slower deliveries, as well as variations in pace. The left-arm seamer will be excited to have a go against Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson in the Indian batting unit since the latter duo like to play their shots in the death.
Match Prediction
India are the favourites to win this game, and Bangladesh may not be able to compete with them on level footing. India’s spin trio – Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy are among the most fearsome in world cricket. Given the opportunity to bowl just outside the powerplay, they will turn things in their team’s favour. Bangladesh, too, can respond with spin, with Nasum Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan. Yet, the difference in quality between the two sides is obvious.
