Pune, Oct 18: High-flying India is all set to take on the bruised Bangladesh at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Thursday, but the biggest question mark over Ravichandran Ashwin’s inclusion in the Playing XI is haunting millions of fans across the globe.
This question is being addressed after Captain Rohit Sharma rolled on his arms to send a few off-spinners in the nets with none other than Ashwin’s help. The ace spinner was seen giving tips on spin bowling. There is an understanding that the team’s think tank does not want to disturb the batting lineup, unless Ashwin fits into “horses for courses” idiom.
India are coming into their fourth World Cup match after registering three wins and are looking favourites to lift the cup, while Bangladesh have lost two matches and would be looking to bounce back.
Fans here are expecting an attacking game by India with Rohit looking in awesome touch and Shubman Gill making a comeback against Pakistan in Ahmedabad where he showed glimpses of fireworks in his brief stay at the wicket.
Rohit has scored 217 runs from three games and slammed a century and a fifty in the last two matches, while Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim have amassed 764 and 714 runs this year in ODIs respectively.
Taskin Ahmed is Bangladesh’s most successful ODI bowler in 2023 with 23 wickets and Jasprit Bumrah is the joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2023 ICC World Cup with 8 wickets.
Bangladesh have all the potential to beat India as they did in the 2007 World Cup and won three matches out of four ODIs against the hosts since 2022. However, their batsmen have let them down. Litton Das, Shanto, and Towhid Hridoy have not yet fired in the tournament.
Doubts on the availability of Shakib Al Hasan for the match could be a worrying factor, but was seen batting in the nets after suffering a slight quad tear against New Zealand.
On the other hand, the Indian batsmen are on song in this tournament with Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul also getting good runs under their belt.
Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj also bowled well in the tournament. The inclusion of Ashwin would not only strengthen India with spin, but with bat as well.
Both teams have locked horns 40 times in ODI cricket and without any surprises, India have dominated most fixtures, having defeated Bangladesh 31 times.
On the flipside, Bangladesh have clinched 8 victories, and in four ODI World Cup matches, India have won three of them. So, one cannot count them out, and this tournament has shown the slaughtering of the giants. Check with Kohli! He has something special to talk about this phenomena.
Probable playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin/Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.
Bangladesh: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan (captain) Mushfiqur Rahim (wicket-keeper), Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, and Mustafizur Rahman.
