With the action just about 15 minutes away, here comes Sidharth Monga for the first time today.
Harsha: “Good job, Cricfanalways!! Got 10 out of 11 right!!”
You can hop across to our sister site and watch the preview show in Hindi too.
Bangladesh: 1 Litton Das (wk), 2 Tanzid Hasan Tamim, 3 Anamul Haque, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Nasum Ahmed, 10 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 5 Ishan Kishan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Prasidh Krishna
KPS: “Shreyas is still not fully fit. That means India testing Tilak for Shreyas place in WC squad, which is not bad thing to do.”
Here’s the official statement from BCCI regarding Iyer: Shreyas Iyer has shown improvement but he is not yet fully fit.
2.30pm We are set for the toss. India opt to bowl. Rohit says that is something they have not done in the tournament, and that they want to bat under lights. He feels today is an opportunity to see “what we can do with the bat”. India make five changes: Tilak in, with Suryakumar, Shami and Prasidh playing too. Shakib says he was confused as to what to do first had he won the toss. Tanzim Shakib making his debut.
“Here’s my XI: Rohit, Gill, Sky, Tilak, Ishan, Jadeja, Axar, Shardul, Shami, Prasidh, Kuldeep” — You are really wanting wholesale changes, Cricfanalways
Ball-by-ball commentary for this match is also available in Hindi and in Tamil.
2.23pm Deep Dasgupta and Matthew Hayden read the pitch: it’s a “very hard surface”, with a “lot more grass”. Hayden expects more bounce for the fast bowlers, and says the pitch could slow up as the middle overs approach. Hence, the powerplay is key.
Kannan: “Looks like Tilak would replace Hardik’s all-rounder role, and may get a chance to bowl today”
“Makes zero sense playing Tilak. Why would you play some guy who’s not in the World Cup plans, instead of giving game time to SKY?” — Suryakumar could be playing too, Raghu
Meanwhile, Tilak Varma is set to make his ODI debut today. Interestingly though, he is not in India’s World Cup squad. And Tilak, along with Suryakumar Yadav, was in focus in India’s nets. You would have ideally thought that India could rather play Suryakumar – maybe they will be playing him too – as I’m sure there’s something in the works.
Saurabh: “Any signs of rain?” — Looks a bit overcast at the moment, with just a hint of sunshine
2.10pm “India have already ticked most boxes. Things couldn’t have gone in a more opposite direction for Bangladesh”, writes Hemant Brar in his preview for the day. As for team news ahead of the toss, it’s possible that Shreyas Iyer might be back; as for Bangladesh, Litton Das could don the wicketkeeping gloves, with Mushfiqur Rahim set to miss the match today.
You can watch the Bangladesh vs India match LIVE in the USA on ESPN+.
Ajay: “For today’s game, India has to play Shreyas, Suryakumar, Shardul and Shami in place of Rohit, Hardik, Axar and Bumrah. This way, we can test Kishan’s opening, preserve Bumrah and Hardik. Plus, Rohit has to stay fit till the final of the World Cup.” — I get the point, but I’m not sure they will want to make those many changes, unless they have something in mind with three ODIs against Australia also coming up
2pm How the organisers would have loved the final game of the Super Four to be a knockout; instead, it happened a day before, with the last match in this leg – already finalists India facing an eliminated Bangladesh – being nothing but an opportunity for both sides to perhaps rest their key players, and thus experiment ahead of the World Cup. Neither side has anything to lose, but both will fancy a victory nonetheless – India ahead of the final, Bangladesh before things get more serious in the build-up to the World Cup.