Sabbir Hossain :Hosts Bangladesh will meet world champions India today (Wednesday) in their first match of the 12th Asia Cup at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah. The day/night affair begins at 2.00 pm BST (Bangladesh Standard Time).Bangladesh Television and private satellite channel Channel 9 will broadcast the match live from the stadium.Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan on March 1 at the same venue, face Pakistan on March 4 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur and meet Sri Lanka on March 6 at the same venue.Before today’s match, Bangladesh faced India in 24 matches. Of them, India composed 21 wins while Bangladesh won just three matches. The players of Bangladesh Cricket team and members of Indian Cricket team took part in their practice sessions at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday. Pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, said, “We want to play well in every match. Everybody wants to play their best and prove their capability. We have good bowlers , the Indian team also. They have world class batting side. It is not easy to beat India. We will play positive cricket. Shakib and Tamim are not in the team. But it will not be a factor.” When asked to comment about Virat Kohli, Mashrafe said, “Kohli is really a good batsman. He is leading his side. They will try to win the match.” Mashrafe said, We have capability to over come India. If we beat India it will not be an upset.”On the other hand, Captain of India team Virat Kohli said, “Dhoni is an important member of our team.. We performed consistently well in the ODI format. In absence of Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik will act as a wicketkeeper.Our aim is to win every match we play. Match with Pakistan is always an exciting one, obviously a big pressure match. We take every game the same way. Our aim is to annex the crown, not just one match.” Bangladesh’s attacking opener Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out of the competition because of a neck strain and all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan will also miss the match against India due to his three-match ban for showing ugliness gestures on live TV.Squads:Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain and Wicketkeeper), Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Naeem Islam, Rubel Hossain, Shakib-Al-Hasan, Ziaur Rahman, Abdur Razzak, Anamul Haque, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Shamsur Rahman, Shohag Gazi.India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Dinesh Karthik (Wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Ishwar Pandey, Amit Mishra, Ambati Rayudu and Stuart Binny.
