India vs Bangladesh: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match preview

Who: India vs Bangladesh

When: Thursday, October 19, 2pm (08:30 GMT)

Where: MCA International Stadium, Pune, India

In-form India do not fancy becoming one of the victims of an upset in the ICC Cricket World Cup and have decided against rotating their bowlers for their match against Bangladesh.

Two days after Afghanistan stunned defending champions England in New Delhi, the Netherlands, the only non-Test playing nation in the tournament, inflicted on South Africa their first defeat at this World Cup in Dharamsala on Tuesday.

India have begun the tournament with a hat-trick of wins and are determined not to let any complacency derail their campaign.

“When you enter a World Cup, every team will pose you a challenge,” India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey told reporters.

“Be it Bangladesh or Netherlands, we want to treat every game equally … Every game for us is important, every opponent for us is important.”

The bowling coach also acknowledged the contribution seamer Jasprit Bumrah had made since returning from a back injury earlier this year.

“He gives you that breakthrough that you require in the power plays, he’s well-adapted to bowl in the middle overs and he’s a top death bowler,” Mhambrey said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh will look to build on their recent results against India with help from their mix of young and veteran players.

Captain Shakib Al Hasan had injury concerns last week but is likely to play the all-important match.

Shakib is to have a fitness test hours before the match.

“He had a good batting session yesterday,” Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha told a pre-match press conference.

“He did a bit of running between the wickets as well.

“We are waiting for the result of the scan we did today (Wednesday).

“We haven’t tried his bowling yet. We will assess him tomorrow morning, and make a decision.”

The former Sri Lanka batsman added: “If he is not ready to play, we won’t risk it. If he is ready, there’s a chance of him playing.”

Head to head

India have been the dominant team in the 40 one-day international (ODI) meetings with their neighbours, having won 31 matches compared to Bangladesh’s nine wins.

However, Bangladesh have inflicted a World Cup defeat on India when they won by five wickets to cause a major upset at the 2007 World Cup. They beat India in their last bilateral ODI series.

Form

India go into the match as clear favourites, with three wins in the bag and the support of a raucous home crowd. The Asian champions will look to forget their recent defeat against Thursday’s opponents and stay at the top of the table with a fourth win.

Bangladesh will look to repeat their heroics against India in the Asia Cup and their last ODI series, which they won 2-1 at home.

Bangladesh: L L W L L

India: W W W L W

Team news

Twice champions India appear to have settled on the right combination even if it means keeping out pacer Mohammed Shami and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. With India keen to maintain their winning momentum, Shami and Ashwin may have to wait longer for their chance.

For Bangladesh, Al Hasan’s inclusion in the final 11 will be key to their chances of overcoming the hosts.

Bangladesh: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman

India: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj