T20 World Cup 2022: Rishabh Pant is likely to get a look in as senior wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik is racing against time to get fit after suffering a back injury in Perth. India face Bangladesh in a crucial Super 12 match in Adelaide on Wednesday.
IND vs BAN, Predicted Playing XIs: Will Pant replace Karthik for Adelaide clash?
By India Today Web Desk: India are all set to face Bangladesh in a crunch Super 12 match at T20 World Cup 2022 in Adelaide on Wednesday, November 2. The former champions will be looking to bounce back strongly from the defeat to South Africa and take another step towards qualifying for the semi-finals.
India have been far from clinical so far in Australia, clinching a last-over win over Pakistan and beating the Netherlands in their second game. However, the Proteas comfortably outplayed Rohit Sharma’s men, exposing the chinks in their batting armour.
India have a superior head-to-head record against Bangladesh in the shortest format of the game, having won 10 of their 11 T20Is in the past. However, in pressure situations, Bangladesh have proven to be a challenging opposition for the Men in Blue in the past.
India have issues with their batting, with the likes of KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik not being able to deliver to their potential in Australia.
However, head coach Rahul Dravid finally threw his weight behind KL Rahul, saying the team management would be backing the out-of-form opener. Dravid said Rahul has been hitting it well in the nets and backed the senior campaigner to deliver in the coming matches.
In Tuesday’s indoor training session, both Dravid and senior batter Virat Kohli kept a close eye on Rahul as the vice-captain was taking throwdowns from batting coach Vikram Rathour.
PANT TO PLAY?
India are unlikely to tinker with their top order but Rishabh Pant might come in for Dinesh Karthik, who is racing against time to be fit for the Bangladesh tie. Karthik suffered a back spasm while diving to collect a delivery in their game against South Africa in Perth.
Karthik was replaced by Pant in the last two overs of the match as the senior wicketkeeper-batter left the field in pain.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Dravid said Karthik turned up for practice on the eve of the match but a call on his availability will only be taken on Wednesday.
On the other hand, India might opt to bring back Axar Patel, but with the number of left-handers in the Bangladesh line-up, including Shakib, openers Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain Shanto and middle-order batter Afif Hossain, Deepak Hooda might retain his place.
So is the case with R Ashwin, as the off-spinner might just keep out Yuzvendra Chahal despite having been expensive against South Africa.
Shakib’s batters have struggled on bowler-friendly Australian pitches.
After three games, opener Shanto is the only batter to have aggregated more than 100 runs and that too at a strike rate of 125, which isn’t commendable at all for an opener.
The second-highest run-getter is Afif, the middle-order enforcer. A lot will depend on how Afif and Mosaddek Hossain bat towards the back-end, but against an Indian attack of this quality, they will be under pressure.
BANGLADESH vs INDIA, PREDICTED XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Shakib al Hasan (captain), Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wicketkeeper), Yasir Ali, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed.
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