- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 217,286
It's easy to view the opening game as an upset. India are ranked fourth and Bangladesh seventh after all, and the visitors have a history of superlative performances in the format; they, in fact, have won 30 of the 37 ODIs between the sides. But look closer and you will see why Bangladesh winning the first ODI wasn't as unprecedented as it seems.
The hosts haven't lost an ODI series at home since October 2016. They have comfortably defeated the likes of Zimbabwe, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the meanwhile, and looked increasingly comfortable in a format they enjoy playing. Like head coach Russell Domingo said, "There is confidence in this format." It was evident in how they bowled against India the other night and then found a hero in Mehidy Hasan to snatch the game from the jaws of defeat, but truth be told, they would like a less nerve-wracking win this time around.
For India, a defeat in the second ODI could mean back-to-back series losses in Bangladesh, the last one coming back in 2015. The first thing they would want to get right is their game plan against left-arm spin. It wasn't the first time that Shakib Al Hasan left India bamboozled by the arm-ball. Runs against him were hard to come by even on their last tour, but Mustafizur Rahman stole the thunder then with the sheer number of wickets on that occasion. This time, Shakib is all over the charts and will pose questions for India once again.
The visitors, though, can take heart from the bowling of Mohammed Siraj in the opening ODI. Their problems scaled up only when Siraj was done with his spell, with the other bowlers finding it difficult to polish the tail off. Can the unit conjure up an all-round performance and take the series to a decider?
When: Wednesday, December 7 at 12:00 PM Local Time (11:30 AM IST)
Where: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka
What to expect: Another evening of boisterous crowd support for the home side. Spinners will have a say once again and the side which bats better against them will once again call the shots. The captain who wins the toss might want to bowl first again to take advantage of the "sticky" nature of the pitch in those early overs.
Team News:
Bangladesh: The hosts are likely to stick with the winning combination.
Probable XI: Litton Das (c), Anamul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Ebadot Hossain
India: Axar Patel, if fit, could come in for Shahbaz Ahmed to strengthen the batting. Kuldeep Sen, although expensive, was impressive in patches and is likely to get another game. Shardul Thakur suffered a cramp in the last game but has been cleared to play, Shikhar Dhawan said.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed/Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Sen
What they said:
"I have been involved in some amazing games with Bangladesh. We've had some narrow wins and losses, but that (win in the first ODI) was as close as they come. It shouldn't have been that tight. When we needed 59 runs with four wickets down, we were in a pretty good position. By far, not the perfect performance. There's a lot of work still to be done but to be able to win from that situation, says a lot about the team's character." - Russell Domingo
"We need to learn and understand how to play on such wickets. No excuses for us because we are used to these wickets. I don't really know how much they can improve in a couple of practice sessions. I feel the genes are there and it's only about handling pressure. I am sure these guys will learn and we look forward to the next game." - Rohit Sharma
Squads:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik, Rajat Patidar, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tripathi, Axar Patel
Bangladesh Squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das(c), Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Yasir Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed, Nurul Hasan
The hosts haven't lost an ODI series at home since October 2016. They have comfortably defeated the likes of Zimbabwe, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the meanwhile, and looked increasingly comfortable in a format they enjoy playing. Like head coach Russell Domingo said, "There is confidence in this format." It was evident in how they bowled against India the other night and then found a hero in Mehidy Hasan to snatch the game from the jaws of defeat, but truth be told, they would like a less nerve-wracking win this time around.
For India, a defeat in the second ODI could mean back-to-back series losses in Bangladesh, the last one coming back in 2015. The first thing they would want to get right is their game plan against left-arm spin. It wasn't the first time that Shakib Al Hasan left India bamboozled by the arm-ball. Runs against him were hard to come by even on their last tour, but Mustafizur Rahman stole the thunder then with the sheer number of wickets on that occasion. This time, Shakib is all over the charts and will pose questions for India once again.
The visitors, though, can take heart from the bowling of Mohammed Siraj in the opening ODI. Their problems scaled up only when Siraj was done with his spell, with the other bowlers finding it difficult to polish the tail off. Can the unit conjure up an all-round performance and take the series to a decider?
When: Wednesday, December 7 at 12:00 PM Local Time (11:30 AM IST)
Where: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka
What to expect: Another evening of boisterous crowd support for the home side. Spinners will have a say once again and the side which bats better against them will once again call the shots. The captain who wins the toss might want to bowl first again to take advantage of the "sticky" nature of the pitch in those early overs.
Team News:
Bangladesh: The hosts are likely to stick with the winning combination.
Probable XI: Litton Das (c), Anamul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Ebadot Hossain
India: Axar Patel, if fit, could come in for Shahbaz Ahmed to strengthen the batting. Kuldeep Sen, although expensive, was impressive in patches and is likely to get another game. Shardul Thakur suffered a cramp in the last game but has been cleared to play, Shikhar Dhawan said.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed/Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Sen
What they said:
"I have been involved in some amazing games with Bangladesh. We've had some narrow wins and losses, but that (win in the first ODI) was as close as they come. It shouldn't have been that tight. When we needed 59 runs with four wickets down, we were in a pretty good position. By far, not the perfect performance. There's a lot of work still to be done but to be able to win from that situation, says a lot about the team's character." - Russell Domingo
"We need to learn and understand how to play on such wickets. No excuses for us because we are used to these wickets. I don't really know how much they can improve in a couple of practice sessions. I feel the genes are there and it's only about handling pressure. I am sure these guys will learn and we look forward to the next game." - Rohit Sharma
Squads:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik, Rajat Patidar, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tripathi, Axar Patel
Bangladesh Squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das(c), Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Yasir Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed, Nurul Hasan
