 "Rishabh Pant struck four fours and as many sixes during his knock of 53 off 32 balls during India's T20 World Cup warmup match between India and Bangladesh in New York. Image credit: X/@BCCI")
India will be hoping to inch closer to a place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals on Saturday when they face Bangladesh in their second Super 8 clash at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda.
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The two teams were off to contrasting starts in their opening Super 8 clashes on Thursday. The Men in Blue, who topped Group A with three wins in New York and a washout in Lauderhill, handed Afghanistan a 47-run thrashing in Barbados to extend their unbeaten run in the tournament.
Bangladesh, who beat Sri Lanka and Netherlands to the second spot in Group D, suffered a 28-run loss against 2021 champions Australia in a rain-affected encounter at the same venue where they face Rohit Sharma and Co on Saturday.
Read | Will India qualify for T20 World Cup semi-finals by beating Bangladesh?
While a victory will help bring Bangladesh’s campaign back on track and keep their hopes of a maiden appearance in the World Cup semi-finals — ODI or T20 — alive, India will be virtually assured of a top-two finish in Group 1 of the Super 8s should then end up collecting their fifth win in six matches in the ongoing tournament.
India might find themselves in a three-way tie on four points with Australia and one of Afghanistan or Bangladesh if they win one and lose one in their remaining fixtures. If that indeed turns out to be the case, their Net Run Rate (NRR) — which currently reads +2.350 after their clinical victory over Afghanistan — should come in handy and help them advance to the knockouts.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBefore the two South Asian neighbours lock horns in Antigua, we take a look at some of the player battles to watch out for and other factors that could shape the match:
Rohit Sharma vs Mustafizur Rahman
The India skipper has traditionally struggled against left-arm pacers, especially those who are able to bring the ball in sharply at a searing pace, and the same is evident in his dismissals in the T20 World Cup so far — falling victim to Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan), Saurabh Netravalkar (USA) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (Afghanistan).
When it comes to left-arm seamers, Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman is among the best when it comes to the current generation and has also been an economical option in the ongoing tournament, collecting seven wickets at 4.27, scripting match-winning hauls of 3/17 and 3/7 against Sri Lanka and Nepal respectively. On Saturday, he will be setting his sights on the ‘Hitman’ who has hit a lean patch after scoring a half-century against Ireland in New York.
Suryakumar Yadav vs Rishad Hossain
Suryakumar Yadav will be among the players to watch out for in Saturday’s contest in North Sound, with the No 4 batter starring in India’s last two victories by scoring a half-century in each game.
SKY had smashed his way to a 27-ball fifty against the Afghans on Thursday, and what stood out in his knock was the manner in which he had nullified the Rashid Khan threat in the middle overs with his sweeps and slog-sweeps. That too when the Afghan captain was in the middle of an excellent spell, dismissing Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli in quick succession.
Read | How SKY took the Barbados pitch out of the equation with his unconventional batting style
Surya will hope to ace a similar challenge from another leg-spinner in Rishad Hossain on Saturday.
Rishad has been among Bangladesh’s standout performers so far in the tournament and is their joint-highest wicket-taker at the moment. Interestingly, Rishad’s numbers are quite similar to that of Rashid, with both leg-spinners having collected nine wickets in five appearances, conceding 125 runs along the way at an average of 13.88 at an economy that’s under 7 (6.25 for Rashid and 6.94 for Rishad).
Arshdeep Singh vs Bangladesh openers
Arshdeep has been India’s leading wicket-taker in the ongoing tournament, collecting 10 wickets at an average of 11.10 and an economy under 7 (6.93) that includes a match-winning haul of 4/9 against the USA in New York.
The left-arm pacer, however, has also exhibited the tendency to leak runs early in the innings. He was taken off the attack after going for nine runs in the first over of the Pakistan innings after India set them a modest 120 to win. On Thursday, the Punjab Kings bowler leaked 22 runs in the first two overs allowing the Afghans to begin their chase of the challenging 182-run target on a positive note.
That he has been able to make up for his expensive starts by maintaining his composure in the death overs is what has allowed him to keep his place in the XI. But that he tends to start off on a wayward note is what the Bangladeshi top three comprising Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto will make note of and look to capitalise on in Antigua.
Where the match could be won and likely XIs
India’s middle order has come to their rescue in the last two matches, helping the Men in Blue chase down 111 against the USA after getting reduced to 39/3 and post 181 against Afghanistan from 62/3. Surya had stitched an unbroken 72-run partnership with Shivam Dube in New York and a 60-run stand with Hardik Pandya in Barbados.
Their top-order, especially the opening combination has largely failed to fire in the tournament so far, with batting stars Rohit and Kohli yet to produce a solid opening partnership so far in the tournament.
Whether the Bangladeshis can keep the Indian middle-order quiet and restrict them to a score below 160 or not will go a long way in deciding the fate of the match.
As for their combinations, the Indians aren’t likely to tweak their combination at the moment after drafting in an extra spinner in chinaman Kuldeep for their first match of the tournament in the Caribbean.
Kuldeep overcame a nervy start to finish with figures of 2/32 on his T20 World Cup debut and will be expected to keep the Tigers quiet along with left-arm finger spinners Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja in the middle overs.
Bangladesh, too, aren’t expected to make sweeping changes to their XI even if they were outplayed by Australia and find themselves in a do-or-die situation. Pressure, however, will be on Litton Das — who scored 36 in the opening game against Sri Lanka and 36 in the next four outings. Not only has the senior wicketkeeper-batter struggled to collect runs in the ongoing tournament, but his strike rate has also been under 100 in each knock.
Likely XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman
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