T20 World Cup: Will neighbours Bangladesh jeopardize India’s WC campaign?

The Adelaide Oval will host India vs Bangladesh Super 12 match on Wednesday, 2nd November, in the 35th Match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The two will face off at one of Australia’s most batting-friendly pitches, Adelaide. India is ranked 2nd whilst the Bangladesh team are third in Group 2’s points table. The ground, particularly under the lights, has been a traditionally high-scoring arena. Night matches have an average of 170 for sides batting first, though rain could play spoilsport.

Expect the India Vs Bangladesh T20 World Cup clash on 2nd November to be a fiery contest in the making, given the stakes involved. Team India will be hunting for a win to re-ignite their morale post their slip against South Africa. Bangladesh would be looking to capitalize on India’s weaknesses to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semis. 

While Indian batters, sans SKY, sank to Lungi Ngidi’s sorcery-laced spell at Perth’sOptus stadium, they’ll fancy their chances, having generally dominated Bangladesh. The latter has just won one T20I against India through all their clashes. India would look for a more reassuring batting display after their dismal outing in their last match versus South Africa. India would be keen on improved death-over performances in their bowling department, especially as Ravichandran Ashwin can be a handful against Bangladesh’s southpaws.

With his lowest batting average and strike rate in a year, KL Rahul’s form might appear problematic, but his detractors will be writing him off at their peril. India may toy with the idea of deploying Yuzvendra Chahal against Bangladesh, who have never fancied the prospect of facing a leg spin. They could persist with Deepak Hooda. With Dinesh Karthik’s fitness under the scanner, could we possibly see the dawn of mercurial Rishabh Pant? Coach Rahul Dravid, addressing reporters, shared that DK was shaping up well and had attended the training. It, however, wouldn’t be such a bad idea to test Pant and get him some game time.

Bangladesh’s three games have left them in a dire situation with regard to their NRR. They face India with the possibility of still being able to qualify for the semis.

Lethal with the ball, Bangladesh would be looking at Taskin Ahmed, with 2 Player-of-the-Match awards under his belt, to spearhead their campaign versus India. Taskin Ahmed is the standout performer, taking eight wickets in the Super 12s. With Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud, the trio could pose problems for India’s much-vaunted batting line-up.

Najmul Hossain Shanto’s career-best 71 versus Zimbabwe bodes well for the team’s batting fortunes. Their challenge, however, lies in their batter’s ability to finish the innings. That’s a chink India will be eyeing to exploit.

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India’s Probable XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c) , Virat Kohli, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik/ Rishabh Pant (w), R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Arshdeep Singh

Bangladesh Probable XI: Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (w), Mosaddek Hossain, Yasir Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, and Hasan Mahmud

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Trivia

India’s only T20I win at Adelaide came against Australia in 2016. Bangladesh, likewise, has also their only T2OI here, with their sensational 15-run victory against England during World Cup in 2015.

Suryakumar Yadav is en route to becoming the second batter in men’s cricket to score 1000+ runs in a calendar year, having scored 935 runs in 2022.

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