While Virat Kohli-led India will be aiming to topple Bangladesh and seal a place in the final, Mashrafe Mortaza’s Bangladeshi unit will keen to stop India in their track. (Photo: AP)
Birmingham: In overcast conditions, India and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have started on a bright note. The lanky Indian medium-pacer has sent Soumya Sarkar packing as Sabbir joins Tamim Iqbal in the middle.
Rain has delayed the start of play after Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected bowl against Bangladesh in an all-important semifinal against Bangladesh at the Edgbaston in Birmingham on Thursday.
Bangladesh 1/1 after 1 over:
WICKET! Rattled! Bhuvneshwar Kumar disturbs the timber. India would be loving this kind of start. Soumya Sarkar tries to play one away from the boy and drags the ball onto the stumps. Those LED bails are in the air. India jubilant.
WICKET! Bhuvneshwar breaks through in the first over! Soumya Sarkar chops on off the inside edge into his stumps! Ban 1/1! #BANvIND #CT17 pic.twitter.com/wCjqnSnsth — ICC (@ICC) June 15, 2017
The start of the game was delayed due to drizzle.
The start has been delayed 10 minutes - in the meantime, see what the captains said at the toss #BANvIND #CT17https://t.co/hNawVEq4j4 pic.twitter.com/B5FQmYgGa7 — ICC (@ICC) June 15, 2017
India, who outplayed South Africa in their final group stage encounter, have retained the same playing XI while Bangladesh have made no changes to the team that trumped New Zealand.
The team sheets are in! Both sides are unchanged! #BANvIND pic.twitter.com/N7cylocjMQ — ICC (@ICC) June 15, 2017
The toss was delayed due to light showers but the rain has stopped and Indian bowlers would be keen to make the most of the overcast conditions.
Kohli, after electing to bowl, talked about the pitch and his decision to bowl first. "Looks like a fresh wicket, should stay the same throughout," said Kohli before adding, “And it's a bit overcast as well - that could play a big role."
Mashrafe Mortaza, who would have wanted to bowl first, said that his team won't be satisfied with a place in the semifinal and will want to go further.
"We want to go further, last two-three years we have improved a lot. 2015 World Cup also we went through (the group). This time it's time to go further," said the Bangladeshi skipper.
Preview:
The stage is set. Winner gets a shot at the title, loser goes home with pain of being so near yet so far as India take on Bangladesh in the second semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Edgbaston in Birmingham on Thursday.
The Virat Kohli-led side has its moments of anxiety as its final game in the group stage against South Africa became a do-or-die encounter following a shock defeat against Sri Lanka. However, Team India, who are the defending champions, held their nerve and thumped the AB de Villiers-led unit to seal a place in the semifinal.
Indian batsmen – Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni – have put up their hands and contributed to team’s cause. India bowlers, who were taken to the cleaners on a flat track against Sri Lanka, have not done too badly at the either side of that defeat. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a standout performer, Jasprit Bumrah, in his first big tournament in England, has not done too badly.
What Kohli must be also pleased about is R Ashwin, who played against Proteas – his first game in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, and Ravindra Jadeja starting to work in tandem just at the right moment for India.
Indian fielding, which was below par in the games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has also upped its game as witnessed in the game against South Africa.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are playing in their first semifinal at the ICC event. But in the recent past, they have shown the ability to up their game when it matters the most. One such example being their win against New Zealand which kept them in race for the semifinal before Australia’s defeat against England confirmed their place in the final four.
While Tamim Iqbal failed with the bat against the Kiwis, he has led Bangladesh’s charge in the other two games – against Australia and England. Shakib Al Hasan has done no harm to his stature as one of the finest all-rounders in modern-day cricket with a hundred against New Zealand with Mahmudullah scoring notching up his century from the other end.
Bangladesh though will be worried about their bowlers’ form. Mustafizur Rahman has not fired, skipper Masharafe Mortaza has not been in good form with the ball. The bright point for Bangladesh though is Mosaddek Hossain, who scalped 3 wickets, and Taskin Ahmed, who had 2 wickets in the game against New Zealand.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Shami.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahaman, Mahmudullah Riyadh, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahaman, Taskin Ahmed, Mehedi Hossain Miraz, Mossadek Hossain, Sunzamul Islam, Shafiul Islam.