India vs. Bangladesh - Preview

Indian team is in the top gear at the moment. After demolishing Pakistan on Tuesday, team India will meet the hosts Bangladesh today in the final league match of Kitply tri-series. The thumping 140-run victory over Pakistan has virtually assured a place in the final for India.

It is very obvious that Indian team is the favorite for the match. But one must not forget that Cricket is a game where the predictions by even the experienced players fail many times.

Nothing can be predicted in this wonderful game and this is the very charm and beauty of the game that captivates millions. Bangladesh have surprised India in the past and the best example of this shock was the last time at the 2007 World Cup. So even today we can not rule out the possibility of such a show by the hosts.

Bangladesh cannot be taken lightly, even though Mohammad Ashraful’s young team doesn’t inspire confidence. Ashraful is however confident of putting up a good show. “A win against India is possible. Why not?” he asked. “We have beaten India twice in the recent past. If we apply the same processes of those victories, we could win on Thursday.”

Coach Gary Kirsten is going to rotate players; he is experimenting with different combinations and options. The best thing for coach and team is that India have at the moment a lot of young players coming through the test of IPL. Both captain and the coach are trying to find the best combination.

So the fans are expecting players like Robin Uthappa, RP Singh, Manpreet Gony and Pragyan Ojha to be on the field today. All of them were rested against Pak. Kirsten is also looking at the possibility of resting Dhoni ahead of the Saturday’s final.

Bangladesh with a net run-rate of -1.750, has a mountain to climb in the last match of the short league phase even if it needs only a simple win to go through provided the D/L equations do not come into the picture.

Meanwhile, the weather continues to be cloudy with frequent spells of rain. As far as the pitch is concerned, it tends to slow down as the match progresses so the openers will play a key role today as well. Whosoever comes to bat first, stands to gain. So after winning the toss opting to bat first will be a wiser decision for both the teams.

Bowlers like Praveen Kumar who can also swing and seam will surely be beneficial for the Indian team. Young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla can also tease the rivals with his flight, googlies.

The pace man Manpreet Gony, of a high-arm action and bounce, and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha may also get on the field today. On the other hand, Bangladesh is rebuilding after the retirement of a few key cricketers such as left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique.

The team is also missing the inspirational Super Coach Dav Whatmore. The team’s form has dipped after its World Cup matches. Skipper Mohammad Ashraful displayed some character here the other night, but then there is too much pressure on him. If they handle the pressure in better way they can surely come up with few surprises today as well!

Bangladesh: Md Ashraful (c), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mahmudullah Riyad, Tamim Iqbal, Alok Kopali, Abdur Razzak, Farhad Reza, Shahriar Nafees, Roqibul Hassan, Shahadat Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Dollar Mahmud, Mehrab Hossain (Jr).

India: MS Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Manpreet Gony.