India, Bangladesh set for spicy final
Rain threatens to play spoilsport as Rohit Sharma’s boys gear up for Sunday blockbuster
For five games in the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 tri-series, the script was going according to plan. A dominant India entered the final while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would battle it out for the other spot. In the final match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Mahmudullah’s six amid the drama brought interest to this tournament.
The team heads into the final on the back of broken dressing room glass, threat of calling the players back and some verbal jousting. The last-over fracas against Sri Lanka has not won Shakib’s side plenty of friends. Having been left off by the ICC with just a 25 percent fine on his match fee, Bangladesh will now be desperately aiming to break their hoodoo against India, having lost all seven of their previous Twenty20 games.
The arrival of Shakib for the Sri Lanka match, interpreted by few as a desperate measure, gave a certain spark to the side. The bowlers responded by reducing Sri Lanka to 35/4, while the batsmen benefited from an extra buffer which allowed the likes of Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah to get Bangladesh over the line. The challenge for Bangladesh will be to maintain consistency in batting and bowling, something their interim head coach Courtney Walsh has stressed.
An area of concern for Bangladesh would be their death bowling. In their last two games against India and Sri Lanka, the last 10 overs yielded 105 and 106 runs respectively. Shakib’s side cannot afford to gift runs away in the death overs as India’s bowling is powerful.
TICKING ALL BOXES
After suffering a blip in the first game against Sri Lanka, questions were raised on India’s batting. In the next two games, all the batsmen got decent hits. Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey’s 68-run stand got India over the line in a tricky situation against the hosts while Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina got amongst the runs in the last league game.
In the practice session ahead of the final, all the batsmen practiced against the short ball, in particular Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan. Jaydev Unadkat once again put in the hard strides and he could replace Mohammed Siraj for the final. Unadkat’s inclusion further strengthens the bowling, which has been buoyed by the likes of Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur.
Sundar, in particular, has been sensational. His seven wickets at an economy rate of 5.87 is remarkable considering he bowls two overs in the powerplay period and one in the death. Backed by Shardul Thakur’s variations and Yuzvendra Chahal’s guile, India’s bowling is their strongest.
Both teams will be hoping that rain stays away. The forecast for Sunday is not too promising and in the event of a washout, both teams will share the trophy.