- Sunday, February 23, 2025
The Men in Blue will look to seal a berth in the semi-finals by winning the match on Saturday while the Tigers have to win to remain the race.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AHEAD of his side’s crucial clash against Bangladesh in the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, India batting coach Vikram Rathore said the pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound in Antigua and Barbuda might help the spinners.
India are coming into this match after beating Afghanistan by 47 runs in their previous game in Barbados on Thursday (20).
Bangladesh, on the other hand, conceded a 28-run defeat in their first Super Eight match against Australia later the same day at the same venue where they would take on India.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Rathore said the Bangladesh players are good in certain conditions. He also conceded conditions in North Sound would suit the Tigers a little. He said every team is tough in the T20 format.
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“They’re a good unit. They have a lot of guys who can spin bowling and they are good in certain conditions. And these conditions do suit them a little as a team I think because the wickets seem to have a bit of help for the spinners and they do have spinners in their team. But again, in this format, I think every team is a tough team,” Rathore, a former India batter, said.
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“I think we already played in the worst conditions that were possible in New York so anything after that is feeling good only. Even today felt really good. So, I am expecting wickets to be better. I mean, it won’t be as challenging as what we had in New York. And again, we are equipped, I think, as a team, as a batting unit, to deal with any conditions that are put in front of us,” he added.
While India’s top order including captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who is opening in this tournament, has not been getting runs, Suryakumar Yadav’s flawless fifty in the match against Afghanistan would give the batters in the side a much-needed confidence.
India bowling has been better compared to batting with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya and spinners such as Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav delivering whenever the team needed them.
India will be aiming to end their drought for an ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy and also win their first T20 World Cup title since winning the inaugural edition in South Africa in 2007.
The Men in Blue displayed a stupendous performance in the group stage of the marquee event and finished at the top of the Group A table with seven points. They defeated Ireland, Pakistan and the US while their game against Canada was washed out.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Bangladesh squad: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wicket-keeper), Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Jaker Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Tanvir Islam, Soumya Sarkar
(With ANI inputs)
