Big picture
Bangladesh, though, wouldn’t like to talk about Bangalore 2016, while India would like to believe that they have evolved into a stronger outfit these days. Still, Wednesday’s clash has all the makings of a memorable contest given the stakes involved, and how the teams are coming to Adelaide after playing three matches each.
India ran into some problems against South Africa as Lungi Ngidi exploited the Perth pitch quite well. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya got out trying to pull the ball, while KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda were loose outside the offstump. Only Suryakumar Yadav stood tall, finding little support at the other end as he tried to revive the innings with his vast shot-making. South Africa wobbled a bit with the bat but David Miller took them home, giving India a bit of a headache ahead of their last two matches in the Super 12s.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, might feel they have already met pre-tournament expectations. They won against the Netherlands and Zimbabwe but got crushed by South Africa. While it has left them in a tough NRR situation, Bangladesh wouldn’t mind the afterglow of two hard-fought wins. The fact that they are going into the India game with a chance to still qualify for the semi-final will no doubt please them.
Taskin Ahmed is the standout performer, having taken eight wickets in the Super 12s, including two Player-of-the-Match awards. Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud have added to the fast-bowling form, coming up with important contributions in the three matches. Mustafizur’s return to form is particularly crucial for Bangladesh, who have waited patiently for the left-arm quick to come good this year.
All in all, Wednesday promises to be another memorable contest, especially with the usual emotions and melodrama involved whenever these two sides have met in the last ten years. Both India and Bangladesh would however try to ignore all that, and the possibility of rain, to focus on the job at hand: get the two points.
Form guide
(Last five completed matches; most recent first)
India LWWLW
Bangladesh WLWLL
In the spotlight
Taskin Ahmed now has two Player-of-the-Match awards in this tournament, having played a big role in both those matches for Bangladesh. His twin strikes off the first two balls broke Netherlands’ back, while his three timely strikes held back a rampant Zimbabwe in Brisbane. Taskin, who made his T20I debut in the 2014 T20 World Cup, is making up for lost time after spending three years in the sidelines. He has now taken over the mantle of bowling attack leader with his bundle of wickets since last year.
Team news
Playing Yuzvendra Chahal could be a good idea against Bangladesh who traditionally don’t like facing legspin. But at the same time, India could well continue with Deepak Hooda as the extra batting and offspin option.
India (probable): 1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Arshdeep Singh
Eight batters looked superfluous against Zimbabwe as Shakib looked like he needed a fifth bowler. What will Bangladesh choose this time?
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Soumya Sarkar, 2 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 3 Litton Das, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Afif Hossain, 6 Nurul Hasan (wk), 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Yasir Ali, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Hasan Mahmud
Pitch and conditions
The Adelaide Oval is traditionally a high-scoring ground in the Big Bash, particularly under lights. Sides batting first have averaged 170 batting first in night games. The problem ,however, is that there’s rain in the forecast in the evening.
Stats and trivia
Quotes
“India is the favourite team, they came here to win the World Cup. We are not favourites, we didn’t come here to win the World Cup. We know it very well that if we win against India, it will be called an upset. We will try to play our best cricket, and try to make an upset.”
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan on whether theirT20 World Cup head-to-head record against India will have an influence on the contest.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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