BSP-20 Bangladesh face India in super four round of Asia Cup tomorrow

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BSP-20

CRICKET-BD-IND-PREVIEW

Bangladesh face India in super four round of Asia Cup tomorrow

DHAKA, Sept 20, 2018 (BSS)- Confident Bangladesh take on tournament
favorite India in the opening super four match of the ACC Asia Cup scheduled
to be held tomorrow (Friday) at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The match kicks off at 5.30 pm.

After a thumping victory over Sri Lanka in their tournament opening match,
the Tigers aim to carry on their winning streak in their remaining matches
and one can’t deny the fact that the Tigers have transformed into a quality
50-over side, a format they have mastered after a formidable run at home
besides reaching the Asia Cup final in 2012.

Under the great inspiration of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and seasoned
campaigners like Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyadh, the
team has the potential to go all the way.

With two quality pacers Mustafizur Rahaman and Rubel Hossain in the squad
backed by the experience of Mortaza and Shakib on a slow deck, India could
find run scoring difficult in the middle overs.

Moreover, Bangladesh is being forced to play back-to-back matches in Abu
Dhabi (vs Afghanistan on Thursday) and in Dubai (vs India on Friday).

This wasn’t the original schedule, but the BCCI had managed to arm twist
the Asian Cricket Council in tweaking it, causing a lot of heartburn. On the
other hand, Rohit Sharma’s Team India, who beat their arch-rival Pakistan by
eight wickets on Wednesday, will be looking forward to continue their winning
run against Bangladesh.

For India, the worry will be the team combination as Hardik Pandya has been
ruled out of the tournament owing to back spasms and Bhuvneshwar Kumar might
be rested after back-to-back games against Hong Kong and Pakistan. Young
left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed may come in place of Bhuvneshwar but it is still
not clear as to who would be Pandya’s replacement. Deepak Chahar has been
named as the replacement player but it is unlikely that he will be drafted
straightaway into the playing XI.

Manish Pandey can add batting depth and looks like a possible addition in
the middle-order, while Kedar Jadhav’s off breaks are more than handy and he
is expected to take care of Pandya’s quota of overs.

Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were amongst the runs in the first
two matches while Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik looked solid against
Pakistan.

However, veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s batting form could keep the team
management worried as he hasn’t been firing and it will be interesting to see
if Rohit promotes him in the batting order to give the 37-year-old enough
time to settle down.

Squads:

Bangladesh: Masrafe bin Mortaza (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal,
Mohammad Mithun, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Ariful Haque, Mahmudullah,
Mosaddek Hossain, Nazmul Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Nazmul Islam, Rubel Hossain,
Mustafizur Rahman and Abu Haider.

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh
Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,
Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra
Jadeja, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Chahar.

BSS/SG/ARS/1730 hrs