Dhaka – The Bengal Tigers will meet top ranked India in a high-voltage Group 2 match of the ICC World Twenty20 Super-10 stage at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Wednesday.
The match will kick off at 8pm Bangladesh time.
Bangladesh never won any match against India in their previous four meetings in the T20 cricket as in the Test cricket. However, they won five matches after playing 32 ODIs against the neighbouring country.
The Tigers forced India out of the prestigious global cricket ICC World Cup 2007 in West Indies beating them by five wickets in Port of Spain on March 17, 2007 and eliminated them from Asia Cup Cricket beating them also by five wickets in Dhaka on March 2012.
Bangladesh are now virtually out from the World T20 race with two successive losses in Group matches – a 55-run defeat against Pakistan in Eden Gardens in Kolkota and a three-wicket defeat against Australia in Bangalore on Monday.
India, now under fear of early exit from the ICC World Twenty20 on home soil due to poor run rate in comparison to their group rivals, badly need a big win against Bangladesh for their survival.
The hosts are precariously placed in the 4th spot of Group 2 with one win and one defeat in two group matches and they desperately need a big victory to strengthen their bid for a semi-finals berth.
India’s six-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday has boosted their confidence after a shocking 47-run defeat to New Zealand in their opening group match.
India will believe its recent record against Bangladesh as well as its immediate T20 form – including the loss to New Zealand, it has won 11 of its last 13 games – should stand it in good stead.
Bangladesh might not have defeated a Test nation at the ICC World T20 since its upset of West Indies in the inaugural edition in South Africa in 2007, but it is a team perfectly equipped to play party-pooper despite losing the services of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny, both suspended owing to illegal bowling actions.
Clearly, Bangladesh was rattled by the absence of two key bowling options leading to the match against Australia at the same venue, and even though it welcomed Mustafizur back from a side strain, there was a further setback in the shape of food poisoning rendering the experienced Tamim Iqbal hors de combat.
New Zealand top the group on four points after two wins while Pakistan, Australia and India all have two points each. However India’s run rate, which could determine who qualifies, is considerably worse than their rivals.
Bangladesh, by comparison, will be desperate for a win after two straight losses.
Sitting at the bottom of Group 2 after also losing to Pakistan, the Tigers have almost no chance of advancing to the semi-finals, but skipper Mashrafe Mortaza vowed to battle on.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Abu Hider Rony, Al-Amin Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Shuvagata Hom and Saqlain Sajib
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt and wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi, Ashish Nehra and Ajinkya Rahane. – Agencies
