Euro 2020 Special
 

Bangladesh v India 3rd ODI Preview: India Looking for Consolation in Chittagong

Bangladesh and India will play their ODI in Chittagong on Saturday, December 10th. The match is scheduled to begin at all am local time.

This is the chance for India to claim a consolation win, with the destiny of the series already decided after two narrow wins in Mirpur. They won the first match by one wicket and the second by five runs, with Mehedi Hasan their hero on both occasions.

It also means back to back series defeats, after also losing to New Zealand last month.

 

Sharma injury

Indian captain Rohit Sharma dislocated his finger whilst attempting a catch during the Bangladesh innings. Although he bravely returned to bat down the order for his team later in the match, and almost pulled off a famous win by making an unbeaten 51 off 27 balls, in the process becoming the first Indian to hit 500 sixes in international cricket.

However, his selflessness may have come at some cost.

He has flown back to India for further treatment, and, not only will he miss this game, but he is now also doubtful for the two tests to come.

In his absence, Shikhar Dhawan is expected to captain the team

Rajat Patidar replaced Rohit on an interim basis on Wednesday and he is now likely to feature from the start.

 

More Indian injury woes

He is the latest Indian player to be afflicted by injury. Rishabh Pant was ruled out before the series began, whilst Kuldeep Sen, who only made his international debut in the first ODI, has hurt his back and is expected to be side-lined for several weeks.

Meanwhile, Deepak Chahar pulled his hamstring in the second ODI.

It means another chance for all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed, who bowls left armed orthodox spin.

 

No concerns for Bangladesh

Bangladesh have no such concerns. They are expected to name an unchanged team as they chase a series whitewash.

 

The weather

The weather on Saturday in Chittagong should be mainly sunny, although there could be the occasional cloud to help the seam bowlers. Temperatures are expected to be in the high 20 degrees Celsius.

 

The pitch

The pitch in Chittagong should offer more turn than was experienced in the first two games in Mirpur, and that may influence both team selection and also the choice for whichever side wins the toss. Batting first should definitely be an advantage, with the pitch offering more turn the longer the match continues.

The average first innings score on this ground is 216.

 

Criticism for Indian performances

Whilst losing to Bangladesh is not in itself an unmitigated disaster, the manner of those defeats has caused alarm bells to be rung again about the Indian approach in white ball cricket.

Whilst England have adopted a completely different mindset in test match cricket, and demolished India in their T20 World Cup final, there is a sense that the Indian team remain rooted in the past, especially when it comes to batting.

Too often they start an innings slowly, meaning that it falls on the later batters to pick up the pace and set a target. When that approach fails, there does not appear to be a Plan B, especially in the absence of their main strike bowler, Jasprit Bumrah.

 

Can India stop Mehedi?

If India are to win this match, then they need to find a way to dismiss Mehedi Hasan. Something they have not managed so far. In the first match he only made 38 not lout, but that was enough for him to share in a match winning last wicket stand.

And then in the second game, he scored an unbeaten century.

 

Prediction

India go into this match, desperate to avoid a series whitewash, something few would have imagined possible before the first ball was bowled. But they find themselves of the unusual position of underdogs going into this match, not least because of their growing injury list.

Whilst they have Virat Kohli in their side they will always have a chance, but others need to step up to the party.

The World Cup is now just ten months away now, and it seems there is a lot of work to be done if India are to entertain serious hopes of winning it on home soil.

 

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