Second day of Asia Cup 2010, India vs. Bangladesh: Match Preview
The second game of Asia Cup is going to be played between India and Bangladesh at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Sri Lanka today. The match can be a fresh start for the poor “men in blue” who have been mauled by the Zimbabweans in a tri-nation series involving Sri Lanka in the recent past.
India has performed quite poorly in previous multi-team events in the last 10 years. Out of a total 27 multi-team competitions, India has won only three tournaments along with sharing two trophies. To recover on that statistic, they will need their big guns including MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to fire.
Virender Sehwag is recovering from a shoulder injury who is expected to lead India’s batting line. Sehwag’s return in the squad will relieve India after the wretchedness of Dinesh Karthik, Naman Ojha, and M Vijay at the top in Zimbabwe.
Along with the returning seniors, the Indian side has to rely on Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who reached Sri Lanka on Tuesday after completing the T20 series in Zimbabwe.
The only new face in the Indian squad is Saurabh Tiwary, but it is uncertain whether they will test him out straight away. The seniors, coming back from a month’s break, will be given preference as they need to get back in to the furrow quickly.
India's bowling attack is being led by Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. Along with Praveen Kumar, the trio of fast bowlers is back for India in the Asia Cup.
India's most thriving bowler in Sri Lanka, Harbhajan Singh is leading the spin department. Ravindra Jadeja, a sly bowler in the one-dayers, as proven by his career economy-rate of 4.90 runs per over – will be joining Harbhajan in the spin bowling.
Bangladesh on the other hand is returning to one-day cricket after losing the Test series 0-2 against England. They had some outstanding individual performances including Tamim Iqbal. But as a team, they lost the plot. The strong opening partnerships were followed by a disappointing middle-order for the Bangladeshi team. The middle order seemed abrasive and incapable of keeping with the job. However, Bangladeshi skipper Shakib Al Hasan knows that his side is far better in the shorter format of the game.
The Bangladeshi spinners have an opportunity to succeed as the slow pitch at Dambulla suits them a lot.
If the Bangladesh side has to name one world-class batsman who can perform against any line-up from their team, it would definitely be Tamim Iqbal. The player combines power with elegance to stroke the ball to all corners of the park. Quite similar to Sehwag in his instinctive display of talent, Tamim does not believe in nicking around in the nervous nineties.
The match will be played at the Rangiri Stadium which will host all ten matches of the quadrangular series because of monsoon rains in the south. Cloudy weather is expected in Dambulla with some rainy periods expected as well. With 289/4 as the highest total ever scored, the pitch at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium seems to be bowler friendly in nature. Bowling conditions will favour the seamers in the morning because of the high humidity level and heavy sweating. While in the afternoon, the pitch will be favourable for spinners when it starts to crumble. According to past records, a majority of the teams batting first have won their match at the ground.
India has a 50 percent win record at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium. It has played a total of eight matches at this ground, winning four of them. On the other hand, Bangladesh has never played a one-day international at this ground.
India's opening duo on the contrary has faced problems in Dambulla. In the last eight innings, the openers have averaged 15.50 runs per stand, with their highest being a lone half-century.
India and Bangladesh have so far played a total of 21 one-day matches. The win loss ratio of Bangladesh sits at 2 wins and 19 loses which is quite disappointing. However, nobody can predict until the game is over.
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