Bangladesh still eye series win in India

Rohit Sharma and Mahmudullah
Rohit Sharma and Mahmudullah

Despite losing the chance of winning the series in the 2nd T20I match in Rajkot last Thursday, Bangladesh are ready to take another chance in Nagpur to seal the three-match series against India, according to UNB.

The final T20I of the series will be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.

The match will start at 7:30pm (Bangladesh time) and Gtv will telecast live the match.

Bangladesh registered their first-ever T20I victory against India on 3 November, riding on the superb batting effort by man of the match Mushfiqur Rahim. But the Tigers failed to repeat the same performance in the 2nd game due to Rohit Sharma's hurricane innings of 85 runs off 43 balls that force to level the 3-match series 1-1.

“I am proud of the boys who have played well in this tour so far. We have won the first game, but for a few mistakes we lost the second one, we lost a chance to beat India in two consecutive matches. But we are still confident to win the series. I believe the boys are upbeat to display better performance on Sunday,” Russell Domingo, the head coach of Bangladesh told the media on Saturday.

“There is no secret that India got an inexperienced bowling attack. If we bat well and stick to our strategies, it will put their bowling attack under pressure. They are a good side, but we still have a good chance,” Domingo added.

However, the momentum is with the hosts while Tigers are set to chase history in the series decider. After having suffered a seven-wicket defeat in the first game, India are eager to end up the contest with a trophy.

Bangladesh will have a good opportunity to open up a new chapter in their history if they bat first and put up a good total. As per the records, the team who batted first won eight matches out of 11 T20Is in Nagpur.

On the other hand, India lost five out of six matches when they tried to defend the total. So Bangladesh also have a good chance if they bat second in the series decider.

The wicket of Nagpur is traditionally good for the spinner. Keeping this fact in mind, Bangladesh might go with another specialist spinner in the playing XI along with Aminul Islam Biplob, who did well in both matches.

Taijul Islam might get a chance in Sunday’s rubber. In that case, Bangladesh might overlook Al Amin Hossain or Mustafizur Rahman, who were below-per in the first two games of the series.

On the other hand, India might replace Khaleel Ahmed with Shardul Thakur. Khaleel conceded 37 and 44 respectively in the first two games taking one wicket in each game.

Bangladesh’s probable XI: Mohammad Naim, Liton Das, SoumyaSarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah (c), MosaddekHossain, AfifHossain, Aminul Islam, MustafizurRahman/Taijul Islam, Shafiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain

India’s probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), ShikharDhawan, KL Rahul, ShreyasIyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), ShivamDube, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, YuzvendraChahal, Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed/Shardul Thakur.