Bangladesh the next step for unbeaten India

The Indian cricket team continued its unbeaten run in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup on Thursday, beating Afghanistan by 47 runs to start their Super Eight campaign with a dominant win, and next in their way are Bangladesh at North Sound on Saturday.

Three matches in five days are a tough ask for any team but such is the condensed nature of a T20 World Cup that there is no option but to recalibrate. And for a team still searching for its first T20 World Cup trophy since 2007, there are still concerns despite being unbeaten in this edition.

India’s problems start at the top. Rohit Sharma has one half-century in four innings whereas Virat Kohli averages 7.25 with a best of 24, which came at a run a ball in the previous match. A highest opening stand of 22 has meant that an early wicket has left plenty for Rishabh Pant and the middle order to do. Pant has done better than many would have expected to top India’s run chart with 116 at an average of almost 39 and a strike-rate touching 132 but barring him Suryakumar Yadav the rest have been disappointing. 

In Barbados, led by Rashid Khan, Afghanistan had India at 90/4 after 10 overs Suryakumar helped his team to 181/8 by smashing five fours and three sixes during a 28-ball 53 on a tough track. Suryakumar, ranked No 1 in T20Is, has now scored back-to-back match-winning fifties to sit at second for India behind Pant by four runs. 

But after him, the returns have been middling. Shivam Dube was picked for the West Indies leg of the tournament but made seven runs in Barbados, and calls are growing for him to be removed. What are the options? Sanju Samson, in a like-for-like swap at No 5 or getting in Yashasvi Jaiswal as opener and sending Kohli back to No 3 which would upset the whole lineup because then Pant and SKY would also have to shift a spot down. Neither seems likely, and so Rohit and Kohli will continue to open and the fans will have to hope that they and Dube hit form before the big game with Australia next Monday. 

Bangladesh, who came second in their group, were defeated by Australia in their opening Super Eight match as Pat Cummins’ first hat-trick at international level was backed by David Warner’s 53 not out. They, like Afghanistan, are in a must-win scenario and have to contend with a simmering Indian batting line up, but more worryingly for them, a superb bowling attack spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah (eight wickets at 6.50 apiece) and Arshdeep Singh (10 wickets at 11.10). 

Tanzid Hasan has made ducks in his last two innings, so his place at the top is under threat. Despite bagging a pair of ducks in New York, Soumya Sarkar could get a look-in. 

The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound has only seen big scores – by the tournament standards – during the T20 World Cup, and that was this week when South Africa made 194/4 and then beat USA (176/6) by 18 runs. During the first round, the totals made there were 150/7, 151/3, 72, 74/1, 47, 50/2, 122/5, 84/3, 140/8 and 100/2. Spin and pace have had a say at the venue, which brings into focus the depth and variety that India have as compared to Bangladesh. 

In the previous match there, Cummins used his cutters to terrific use in claiming a hat-trick while Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa all went at 6.25 and under. India will back themselves for another win, given how dominant Bumrah and Arshdeep have been and now that they’ve managed to fit in Kuldeep Yadav – who took two wickets against Afghanistan in his first match of the tournament – to compliment the two left-arm spinners, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. 

India likely playing 11: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rishabh Pant (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Bangladesh likely playing 11: 1 Tanzid Hasan/Soumya Sarkar, 2 Litton Das (wk), 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Towhid Ridoy, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 11 Mustafizur Rahman