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The two sides will face off in their fourth match of the T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12s round at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.
Each of the six teams in Group 2 of the Super 12s round at the tournament have played three matches each, with five of them pretty much still in the race for locking the first-two spots for the semi-finals. The contest has been as intense in Group 1 too, with four teams vying for a second spot, with New Zealand seemingly having locked the first.
India and Bangladesh currently have four points from three games each, and are separated by the net run-rate, with the former taking the second position. After having sealed a nail-biter against Pakistan in Melbourne, India outplayed the Netherlands in Sydney before being undone by South Africa on a pacy Perth surface in a hard-fought low-scoring affair.
Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav have been the leading batters for the 2007 champions in the competition thus far, with openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul struggling for fluency against the new ball.
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The latter’s poor run remains a cause of worry, which has seemingly kept the rest of the top-order under pressure at the start. India would be keenly waiting on Dinesh Karthik’s availability status after the keeper had left the field with discomfort during their outing against South Africa on Sunday.
The bowling is well-settled, especially in the pace department, with the consistency of Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya. India might consider bringing in Axar Patel back to the XI, who was replaced by Deepak Hooda in Perth.
Bangladesh have had a mixed run in the competition thus far, and the bowlers have stood tall twice after the batters endured a mixed run first up. The crushing 104-run defeat to South Africa in Sydney last week dented their net run-rate significantly, which now stands at -1.533, and a defeat would make it incredibly tough for them to remain in contention for the final four.
Key players
Rohit Sharma, the only batter with four T20I hundreds and the second-highest run-scorer in the format currently, scored a fighting fifty against the Netherlands, but was undone early by Haris Rauf and Lungi Ngidi’s pace on either side of that knock. India needs its captain to fire at the top as the tournament nears its decisive phase, more so, with his opening partner KL Rahul also struggling for runs. Rohit has aggregated 452 runs at 41.09 and a strike-rate of 144.41 against Bangladesh till date.
The least experienced of Indian bowlers at the T20 World Cup, Arshdeep Singh has perhaps been the standout of the lot, showcasing his brilliance at various stages of the innings. The left-arm quick has registered returns of 3/32, 2/37 and 2/25, dismissing the likes of Babar Azam, Quinton de Kock and Rilee Roussouw for ducks with his left-arm swing and seam with the new ball. Arshdeep has shown in the past that he can be banked on in crunch situations, and that makes him a much sought-after bowler for the skipper.
Shakib Al Hasan, the top-ranked all-rounder in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings, has stood up for his side with his left-arm spin, but is yet to produce the goods with the bat he’s known for. Having scored back-to-back fifties against New Zealand and Pakistan in the away tri-series in the build-up to the competition, Shakib has registered scores of 7, 1 and 23 in the competition thus far, and would be keen to lead his side’s charge in the middle-order. As for the bowling, he’s competing closely with Tim Southee for the top position among leading wicket-takers in T20Is.
In an attack comprising Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed has been the most impactful bowler for Bangladesh, having bagged eight wickets at an impressive strike-rate of 8.25. The right-arm quick’s 4/25 against the Netherlands and 3/19 against Zimbabwe helped his side seal tense last-over wins. Tasking has bagged just two wickets from three T20Is against India, but would seek confidence from his ODI record against the opponents, which reads 12 wickets at 17.17 from six outings, including a debut five-for.
Prediction
India hold a 10-1 edge over Bangladesh in T20Is, and are firm favourites yet again, given the recent form and the team combinations. Weather though might well play a spoilsport, as has been the case on numerous occasions in the tournament thus far.
“Cloudy. Medium (60%) chance of showers, most likely in the evening. Winds southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h,” stated the Bureau of Meteorology for the Adelaide forecast on Wednesday.
