Nidahas Trophy 2018: Final, BAN vs IND, Preview- Vibrant Bangladesh up against rampant India

The league matches of the Nidahas Trophy 2018 concluded with the two visiting teams Bangladesh and India qualifying for the Final on March 18 at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. To start with, Team India slumped to a defeat in the opening game, however, stormed back to register three consecutive victories.

Bangladesh also managed to register a couple of impressive wins against Sri Lanka. However, they couldn’t get over India, in fact haven’t defeated the Men in Blue yet in the shortest format of the game. For them to topple Rohit Sharma’s men and to win the championship will be a huge task. Nevertheless, the stupendous run chases against the Lankans is most likely to hold them in good stead ahead of the ultimate showdown.

The pitch in Colombo has been conducive to batting while bowlers have struggled to extract movement and spin from the wickets. Both India and Bangladesh have explosive batting lineups and have batsmen who have delivered the goods in the erstwhile games. Both teams will be looking to string together impressive performances and win the tri-nation series.

Toss: India won the toss and opted to field

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mehidy Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Nazmul Islam

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik(w), Lokesh Rahul, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal

Team Combination

India

India finished the league table with three wins courtesy some excellent performance overall by the inexperienced team. In the batting department, they are highly unlikely to make any changes. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will open the batting with Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik’s experience to follow. However, it will be interesting to see KL Rahul’s position in the lineup.

In the bowling area, Mohammed Siraj is likely to make way for Jaydev Unadkat. He will partner Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur with the new ball. Vijay Shankar has bowled decently thus far and will be required to replicate the same performance. Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal will shoulder the mantle in the spin-bowling department.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh have had an impressive run thus far in the event. They have also been boosted by the return of Shakib Al Hasan who was suffering from a finger injury. The team is likely to remain unchanged for the final. Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das are the openers followed by the class of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. Sabbir Rahman adds to the depth of their batting with his power-hitting abilities.

In the bowling department, Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman will share the new ball. Shakib bowled a couple of overs in the last match and will be interesting to see his role in the next game. Mahmudullah and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are the remaining spinners. Soumya Sarkar’s gentle medium pace might also need to come to the fore.

Head to Head

Played – 7 India – 7 Bangladesh – 0, NR/Tied- 0

Players to watch out for   

Washington Sundar (India)

Washington Sundar has been in prime shown and has displayed nerves of steel in the series. He hasn’t only stemmed the run flow, but also restricted the batsmen from playing the extravagant strokes. The Tamil Nadu-spinner has been exceptional with the leather and is likely to be entrusted with bowling in the power-plays during the final.

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

Shakib Al Hasan made his comeback in Bangladesh’s last league match against the Lankans. However, he didn’t complete his quota, being a strike bowler. Also, he came to bat at number seven. Bangladesh would be hoping for their skipper to lead the team from the front in Sunday’s encounter against an in-form Indian team.

Match Timings

19:00 IST, 19:00 Local Time, 13:30 GMT

Broadcast details

TV– DSport, DD Sports, Rishtey Cineplex

Live Streaming– YuppTV

Stat Attack

Bangladesh featured in four tournament finals – 3 in ODIs and 1 in T20Is. They lost all those four finals.

Mahmudullah (996) need four more runs to become the 4th Bangladesh player to complete 1000 runs in the T20I format after Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mushfiqur Rahim.

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