After a dismal home series against Sri Lanka, Tigers want to come back in the winning streak as they face mighty India in the second match of the Nidahas Trophy tri-nation T20I series scheduled to be held today (Thursday) at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
The day/night match kicks off at 7.30 pm (BST).
After winning the preparation match against Sri Lankan’s Board President’s XI by 41 runs, Tigers’ confidence level at the moment on pick and despite India’s domination head to head in Test, ODI and T20Is, they have a real belief that these days their neighbor rivals can be beaten.
Stand in captain Mahmudullah believes that they can start their Nidahas Trophy campaign with a victory. In the absence of star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, they lost the two-match T20I home series against Sri Lanka last month. Even with Shakib, they also lost to South Africa in a couple of T20Is during their tour last year, leaving them on a losing run of four.
They are missing their regular captain here as well, due to a finger injury, but the senior players likes Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah himself and Mustafizur Rahman need to step up if Bangladesh want to come out from losing run.
On the other hand, India also eye to come back in the winning streak following their five-wicket defeat against host Sri Lanka in the tournament opening match. However, one of the standout aspects of the current Indian team is their ability to bounce back from defeats almost instantly.
Though Rohit Sharma and co. are being called second-string India, they have more than a handful of match-winners who give India the edge over Bangladesh in Thursday’s encounter.
India have won each of the five Twenty20 Internationals they have played against Bangladesh to date, with the last meeting between these sides coming in the ICC World Twenty20 2016, when Bangladesh lost a match by one run, having had victory in their grasp. Thursday’s match will be the first between these sides on Sri Lankan soil.
Squads:
Bangladesh probable XI – Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicket keeper), Sabbir Rahman, Litton Das, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain.
India possible XI – Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik (wicket keeper), Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat and Yuzvendra Chahal.
