T20 World Cup: Axar comes in for Hooda as Bangladesh win toss, elect to bowl first against India. Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in a Group 2 match of Super 12s in the Men’s T20 World Cup at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.
A win for India over Bangladesh in a chilly, cold Adelaide will strengthen their quest to seal a semifinal spot. India and Bangladesh are level on four points in the Group 2 points table, with the former ahead on net run rate.
Overall, India have a 10-1 record against Bangladesh in T20Is. The last meeting between the two teams in T20 World Cups resulted in a heart-stopping one-run win for India in Bengaluru in 2016.
After winning the toss, Shakib said they have brought in an extra pacer in Shoriful Islam, who replaces Soumya Sarkar in the playing eleven.
“Don’t know what the best score is on this pitch. Know what’s coming at us, we’re well prepared. Boys gelling well together, everyone looking forward to this. Need to continue doing good things. Batting is one area we can improve. Our fast bowling is terrific,” he expressed.
India captain Rohit Sharma said he would have loved to bat first and added that left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel replaces Deepak Hooda in the playing eleven.
“Runs on the board would matter. We would look to bat well. All games are important in this format. We didn’t play well in the last game. Hopefully, we can play some good cricket and get those two points. Good ground and good atmosphere here. Good weather as well,” he stated.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh.
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wicket-keeper), Yasir Ali, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam.
