India holds all the aces against Bangladesh

A chance to take a firm step towards the Asia Cup final beckons when India takes on Bangladesh in a Super Four contest at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. Both teams notched up victories in their opening encounters of this phase.

While Bangladesh sneaked past the Sri Lankans by four wickets in pursuit of 169 on Saturday, India hammered Pakistan by six wickets the following evening.

In theory, India has a distinct advantage going into this clash too. Akin to its primacy in T20I contests against Pakistan, it has a monopoly over its eastern neighbour as illustrated by 16 victories in 17 meetings. Bangladesh’s only triumph came at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium in 2019.

So far in the eight-team continental event, Suryakumar Yadav’s men haven’t really been put to the test. In the bitterly-contested joust on Sunday, a stand of 72 runs between Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub may have evoked a tinge of anxiety in the Indian camp, but the bowlers clawed their way back and kept Pakistan down to 171 for five. The key breakthroughs of Farhan and Saim interestingly came from Shivam Dube, a sign that his endeavour in the nets towards becoming a better bowler is paying dividends.

“You could say Dube’s spell was the turning point,” Suryakumar observed after the win against Pakistan. “He has been working really hard on his bowling in all the practice sessions. He has always wanted to bowl a minimum of two overs. He got his quota of four overs and he was very happy with the way he delivered. He has got clear plans.”

Once the bowlers did their bit, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill tore into the Pakistan attack in an opening partnership of 105 runs. While Gill’s strokeplay is a mix of convention and calculated aggression, Abhishek’s is all about merciless ball-striking.

For Bangladesh to effectively quell India’s batting firepower, Mustafizur Rahman will have to sparkle. Although he has not kicked on in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after his initial success with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, there can be no misgivings about the left-arm pacer’s body of work for his national side. In Bangladesh’s most recent appearances, against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, the 30-year-old scalped successive three-wicket hauls.

With the bat, skipper Litton Das, Saif Hassan and Towhid Hridoy will have to show up. In the win against Sri Lanka, Hassan put together 59 runs with Litton in a second-wicket partnership, and added a further 44 with Hridoy to help Bangladesh keep up with the asking rate in a stiff chase.

“Every team has the ability to beat India,” Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons proclaimed on the eve of the match. “The game is played on the day. It’s not what India has done before. We will hope to force mistakes in India’s armoury. That’s the way we win games.”

Barring the 2007 ODI World Cup, Bangladesh has never managed to throw a spanner in the works on big occasions. Will Wednesday prove any different?

The teams (from): India: Suryakumar Yadav (Capt.), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Bangladesh: Litton Das (Capt.), Tanzid Hasan, Jaker Ali (wk), Nurul Hasan (wk), Parvez Hossain Emon (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Mahedi Hasan, Saif Hassan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Nasum Ahmed, Rishad Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed.

Match starts at 8 p.m. IST.