Daijiworld Media Network - Sports

Dhaka, Jun 21: Bangladesh had a fantastic day at the office a couple of days ago. Batsmen made quality runs and the bowlers backed it up with an excellent show with the ball. Now they lead the 3-match series 1-0. Can they thump India once again and seal the series today? Or, will MS Dhoni & Co. give one back to the hosts? Hello and welcome to the second ODI. Let's hope that the rain stays away and we'll get a full game in.

India have won the toss and have opted to bat.

Mortaza: 'We would have batted as well. It looks a pretty good pitch and hopefully the wicket doesn't change much later on. The boys fought really hard in the last game, which was very good to see. We have the opportunity to win the series, hopefully the boys will do well today.'

Dhoni: 'We will bat first. There is no possibility of rain. I think we'll have to be ready with our plans. They will be eyeing a series win now, so that puts pressure on them now. Of course we are under pressure as well. The spinners did well in the last game, but I felt our fast bowlers weren't up to the mark. We have made three changes. Rahane, Umesh and Mohit make way for Axar, Dhawal and Rayudu.'

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

Pitch Report: 'Nothing has changed when compared to the first match. Batsmen can score runs and there will be help for the pacers as well', says Sanjay Manjrekar

Preview:

Debutant Mustafizur Rahman had a wonderful outing with the ball as the Indian batsmen failed to read his slower deliveries. He became only the second Bangladeshi player to bag a 5-wicket haul on debut as well. The fact that the hosts managed to pull it back despite India getting off to a good start tells about the way Mashrafe Mortaza's boys went about their business.

Dhoni would want his batsmen to take more responsibility. Rohit Sharma was the only batsman, who managed to score a fifty. Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja got starts but were unable to make it count. Overall, they weren't able to handle the pressure of a run chase. There was a controversial moment in the game when Dhoni and Mustafizur bumped into each other. After the match, both were fined for their mid-pitch collision.

Mohit Sharma was way too expensive the other day. Will Dhawal Kulkarni get a chance? We'll find out soon.

Moving focus to this game, there was a bit of rain earlier, but the good news is that it has stopped now and the players are warming up. However, there are a few clouds hovering over the ground. Fingers crossed folks! Just a gentle reminder that there is a reserve day tomorrow in case we are not able to finish the game today. Let's hope that the weather is kind on us!

Deem Bangladesh as minnows at your own peril. If India didn't know it at already at the start of the series, they certainly do now. Having won a grand total of three ODIs against India before Thursday, Bangladesh now stand a chance to make the cricketing fraternity stop and take notice of their meteoric rise in the ODI format if they can put another one past 'Big Brother' India on Sunday to seal the series.

The ingredients are all there - Skyrocketing confidence, a high-profile opponent, unrelenting home support and a chance to create history. Bangladesh, though, cannot afford to get ahead of themselves. 200 overs of cricket are yet to be played in the series and India, despite the crushing defeat, remain a very competent ODI side. But, if Bangladesh can maintain their positive intent and get the processes right, they stand every chance of repeating their heroics from Thursday.

As Suresh Raina mentioned after the match, India wouldn't want to read too much into one off-color performance but they will have realized that the ODI side, despite boasting the same names, is still a few levels away from the one that took the field in February during the World Cup. Even Ravi Shastri, always one to impress upon his team the need to maintain intensity, will acknowledge that his team were undone comprehensively in that department in the first game.

Team News:

Bangladesh

Don't fix it if ain't broke. Barring a brief collapse after the rain interruption, Bangladesh had most parts of their ODI machine firing to expectation. Their four-prong pace attack was particularly effective in choking India's run chase and Nasir Hossain and Shakib-al-Hasan should play as the two spinning all-rounders. Mushfiqur Rahim recovered well after his two drops to effect five dismissals but in Litton Das, Bangladesh have another wicket-keeping option to reduce Mushfiqur's workload.

Probable XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib-al-Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

India

MS Dhoni is not one to tinker with the playing combination after one defeat but Mohit Sharma's struggles on Thursday and the middle-order collapse could force the think-tank in considering Stuart Binny's all-round abilities. If included, Binny has fond memories of his 6 for 4 from last year to draw inspiration from.

Ajinkya Rahane, arguably India's best current Test batsman, hasn't had an entirely smooth ride at the No.4 position in the ODIs. He was, after all, moved down the order despite sparkling in the opening position following Rohit Sharma's 264 on return from injury. Rahane is too good a player to get bogged down in the middle of the innings and the team management will be hopeful of a big contribution from him.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma/Stuart Binny

Stats and Trivia:

- By virtue of their win in the first ODI, Bangladesh (91) leapfrogged West Indies (88) to the seventh place in the ICC ODI Rankings. They now need to win just one of their remaining five games to qualify for the Champions Trophy.

- Virat Kohli has just one 50 score in 13 ODIs in 2015. That score came in India's World Cup Opener against Pakistan (107).

Quotes:

'It's always important to take wickets up front. That is something we will be focusing on: to get early wickets. It always builds pressure when you take early wickets.'

- Rohit Sharma on what went wrong in the first ODI.

'Although we won, and that's the scary part, we can still improve, not only batting but in our fielding and bowling execution as well.'

- Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha believes his team played better in the Pakistan series.