There was a lot of chatter about a possible inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin in India's XI in place of Shardul Thakur purely because of the number of left-handers present in Bangladesh's XI. But India decided to go with an unchanged XI at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Thursday. Sunil Gavaskar, who was annoyed at India's decision to leave out Ashiwn after the first game, this time had little reservation about India's selection.
Gavaskar said the only possible discussion perhaps would have been whether to rest their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah so that he can turn up fresh for a stiffer challenge against New Zealand in Dharamsala in a couple of days' time.
"They are playing the same team The only question would have been that because they are playing a big team like New Zealand in a couple of days' time whether Bumrah should have been given a break. Obviously, they had three days between the Pakistan game and this match against Bangladesh. They feel that's enough. So it's fine," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
India vs Bangladesh Live Score, World Cup 2023
India have gone in with six bowling options exactly like they did in their match against Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah are their lead seamers with all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur being the other medium-pace options. The spin department will be handled by Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.
{{/usCountry}}India have gone in with six bowling options exactly like they did in their match against Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah are their lead seamers with all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur being the other medium-pace options. The spin department will be handled by Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.
{{/usCountry}}"Don't see any reason to change it (the XI). That's important in this WC, keeping everybody in good space. The boys are in good shape, have good mental space as well and enjoying the cricket. So far so good, we want to continue this momentum," Rohit said at the toss.
The nature of the Pune pitch, which has been a batting paradise of late, also supports that notion.
With Shakib Al Hasan ruled out due to a quad injury, Bangladesh stand-in-captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bat. "He (Shakib) is struggling a bit, Nasum is coming in for him. We have some great memories against India, hopefully, we continue our form. I hope it'll be a great match," said Shanto.
Rohit said India were anyway looking to chase. That appears to be the way forward for them in this tournament.
India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Bangladesh XI: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (w), Mahmudullah, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam.