Nidahas Trophy: India looks to keep records straight against Bangladesh

India looking to carry the wining momentum going against Bangladesh
India looking to carry the wining momentum going against Bangladesh

Debasis Sen, Colombo:  India will look to keep its record straight against Bangladesh as the two sides meet in the second leg clash of the Nidahas Trophy at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. Rohit Sharma and his team would like to throw the mathematical possibilities out of the window and seal their place in the final of the tournament when they take on a resurgent Bangladesh side.

Having suffered an unexpected defeat against Sri Lanka in their tournament-opener, the men in blue have come back strongly winning its next two encounters against Bangladesh and the hosts.

It is likely that India will go in with a unchanged squad against Bangladesh. Although the possibilities of someone like Deepak Hooda getting his first match in the tournament cannot be ruled out. The Indians will be brimming in confidence following the 6 wickets win against Sri Lanka last night.
Bangladesh’s confidence on the other hand has been boosted by their record 215-run chase against Sri Lanka and a win against India will bolster their chances of making it to the finals.
A defeat may not be end of the road for India as it will then depend on the outcome of final game between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Net run-rate will also be a factor. With back-to-back victories in the last two games, India has a healthy net run-rate of +0.21.

For India the biggest worry is skipper Rohit Sharma’s form. The Mumbai batsman has so far failed to get going. But Shikhar Dhawan’s (153 runs) form in the tournament has more than negated the opening worries.
Another batsman who would look to get some runs behind is Suresh Raina. The left hander got a blazing start only to throw away his wickets after scoring 20 runs. But both Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik struck an unbeaten partnership to see India through with no risks.
It will be interesting to see if Rohit promotes KL Rahul to open the innings and himself comes down at No 4 — something that he has done for Mumbai Indians in the IPL over the years.
It will be a challenging task for the Indian bowlers against the Bangladesh batting line up. All the top order batsman made useful contributions in the Sri Lanka match. The likes of Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim hammered the Sri Lankan attack into submission chasing down the highest-ever target on Sri Lankan soil.
IPL’s costliest Indian buy Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 11.5 crore) has been expensive in all three matches with not being able to finish his quota of four overs in two of three games (1/35 in 3 overs vs SL, 3/38 in 4 overs vs Bangladesh, 1/33 in 3 overs vs SL).
Unadkat’s experience will keep him in the playing XI even though there is Siraj, who is a few clicks quicker compared to the Saurashtra pacer.

Shardul Thakur made a great comeback in the tournament after going for 27runs in an over in the first match against Sri Lanka. The Mumbai medium pacer has been spot on with his knuckle ball.
While Shardul Thakur has done well in the last two games, Vijay Shankar has also been steady with his seam up stuff.
Among slow bowlers, off-spinner Washington Sundar has been a revelation, bowling brilliantly in the Powerplay overs in all the matches so far. Leg spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal has been providing the right ploy for Rohit Sharma, giving important breakthroughs in the middle overs.

It will be interesting to see the Indians ticking all the boxes ahead of the big final on Sunday.