 India who is flying high on confidence after winning both of there matches in first round will take on Bangladesh in their first match of Super 4’s. India has two points already since they have beaten Pakistan in their group match. So win here will make there task lot easier to make it into the Finals of Asia Cup. In last year World Cup 2007 Bangladesh beaten India by five wickets to shock the world but if they want to repeat their performance of last world cup then they have to play really well and India have to play really poorly to allow Bangladesh to come up as surprise winners in today’s game. Dhoni has already warned their team that he would like to win all the matches to carry the momentum into the final of Asia Cup. Indian team already sent warning to the teams playing in the tournament that they can chase down 300 plus runs easily with their strong batting line ups. The big-hitting Indian batsmen already have developed a liking for the National Stadium track and Dhoni reckons 300 may seem a difficult target for others, but surely not for his team. The biggest headache for India is lack of form of Rohit Sharma who was not able to perform well in last four five matches he played. However with the likes of Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in the middle order, India need to relax and bank on these two if their opening duo failed. Pitch Report In the last match as we have seen there were no turn and bounce for the spinners and wicket was flat at National Stadium Karachi. So whoever team wins the toss is most likely to bat first and try to set an imposing total on the board. Stats and trivia Indian team has hit most number of sixes (26) by any team in the on going Asia Cup. On the other hand Sri Lankan hit 5 sixes while Pakistan and Bangladesh hit 3 each. Indian team has utilized there power play overs quite effectively by scoring 144 and 151 respectively in their both league matches. Player to Watch Dangerous Duo (Viru & Gauti): So far the most threatening opening combination for the opposition Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are in prime form and both will look to repeat their performance to seal a comfortable win against Bangladesh. In 15 ODI’s they average 51.93 partnerships per match. Raqibul Hasan: The young talented left hander performed well against the Indians in the last match which was played at Bangladesh in Kitply Cup this lad scored a brilliant 89 runs for his team. Bangladesh must be hoping a similar kind of performance from him in today’s game against the Indians. Team News Irfan Pathan who is still recovering from side strain is likely to be rested for today’s game and as per the Indian Coach Garry Kirtsen Indian team may give chance to some of the new comers. So in this case P.Ojha and M.Gony is likely to be included in playing XI. On the other hand Bangladesh may opt of dropping Shahadat Hossain who went for plenty in the game against Sri Lankan at Lahore bringing Frahad Reja in his place. Likely Playing XI for both the teams (Match will start from 15:30 PM India time) India: V.Sehwag, G.Gambhir, Y.Singh, M.S.Dhoni (Captain), S.Raina, R.Sharma, Y.Pathan, P.Kumar, P.Ojha, R.P.Singh, M.Gony. Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Mohammad Ashraful (Captain), Raqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Alok Kapali, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Dolar Mahmud, Farhad Reza |
