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Cricket World Cup 2019 Preview – India and Bangladesh battle in a crucial game

Bangladesh is still in the running for a semi-final spot. Even though England’s win against India on Sunday weakens their chances they would be still hoping to win their last two games. They have been really good in this tournament and their batting has been the highlight so far for the Tigers. Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim have been in brilliant touch so far and the former has been good with the ball as well. The bowling though has suffered a little bit. The pace attack especially hasn’t been able to make much impact so far in the tournament.

They would need a lot more help from their pacers if they are to challenge India in this must-win a game. For India though their loss to England once again opened up the frailties with their middle order. Even though Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been in brilliant form, India’s middle order once again wasn’t able to stand up the rising run rate against England. The bowling attack also suffered against the attack of the English batters. The spinners especially went for plenty and Mohammad Shami who picked up a fifer struggled at the death. There are quite a few chinks the Indian team need to iron out and they will hope they get the answers in this game against Bangladesh.

Head to head:

Even though India has dominated Bangladesh in ODIs historically the recent games between the two sides have been anything but one-sided. India holds a slight advantage in the world cup with a 2-1 record with Bangladesh’s only win coming in the 2007 World Cup.

Key Players:

Rohit Sharma (India): Rohit Sharma has been brilliant for India in this World Cup. He already has 3 hundred in this tournament has looked the part so far along with Virat Kohli for India. He also has a good record against Bangladesh and scored a hundred the last time these two teams met in 2015 World Cup quarterfinals. Considering the problems surrounding Indian middle order, him scoring runs at the start is crucial for India.

Mohammad Shami (India): Shami has been brilliant for India in this World Cup. He already has 13 wickets in just 3 games he has played so far. He has been bowling brilliantly with both new ball and at the death and he will be hoping to continue that form in this game as well. Bangladesh’s batting is top heavy as well, so getting wickets with the new ball will be important.

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh): Shakib Al Hasan is arguably the most valuable player of this World Cup. He has not only scored runs for Bangladesh, but he has also picked wickets as well. For Bangladesh to have a chance in qualifying, they need another strong performance from the star player. He needs to come good with both bat and the ball to trouble India in this game.

Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh): The Indian top order has been in extreme pressure. The misfiring middle order means that India needs a strong performance from the top 3 again. Mustafizur with the new ball will be crucial for not letting that happen. Being Bangladesh’s best pacer, he will be hoping to break the back of Indian batting with early wickets. The wickets being drier means his cutters will be lethal with the new ball.

What they said?

“Shakib doing what he can do – batting, bowling, fielding, everything that he can do. To me, he has been the best performer in this World Cup. I hope he can keep doing what he has been doing and end up well” Said Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza on his ace player Shakib Al Hasan

“It’s a fresh game. It’s going to be on the same track, so we have a bit of an idea of how the track will behave and how the dimensions of the ground are. So we’ll try and maximize them” Said Sanjay Bangar.

Probable XIs:

India XI:

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

Bangladesh XI:

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman

Both these teams have a history in recent times and have played out some thrillers in the white ball format recently. The last ODI they played against each other in the Asia cup was a thriller with lots of drama and this game will be no short of that. The Indian team has some issues to address with their XI and so does Bangladesh. Both these teams need a win, for India, it is to seal their semi-final spot and for Bangladesh to stay in the hunt. The form and the strong points to India but again the Tigers cannot be written off.

Manish Madari
Manish Madari
Cricket Enthusiast, Amateur Writer And I Love The World Of Cricket

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