Two Asian teams meet in the only match at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 tournament on Thursday when Pune stages the competition for the first time for the clash between the Asia Cup champions India and Bangladesh.
Although India went on to win that tournament last month, Bangladesh did actually beat them at the Super Four stage of it which will give the Tigers a bit of belief that they can win this match but the hosts are big favourites here.
India
India went into the tournament as the clear favourites to win on home soil and the only real worry over their chances was whether they would be able to handle the pressure of expectation that was on their shoulders. It should be said that we are nowhere near anything that matters in this competition yet, but the early signs are that they will be able to handle the scrutiny when it ramps up as they have cruised to three wins in the tournament so far.
Australia were meant to put up a significant challenge in their opening game but that didn’t materialise, such is the quality within the Indian ranks in this tournament. Pakistan were the big grudge match in their last game but they got swatted aside in pretty ruthless fashion as well and it might be that the next problem India encounter is that they will qualify for the knockout stage so early that complacency creeps in. We’re not there yet though so they should be comfortable here.
Bangladesh
There has been good signs for Bangladesh in this tournament and then some not so good and the end result of it is one win and two defeats from their opening three matches. It doesn’t look like too many teams are going to beat India in this competition so in a way Bangladesh have a free hit here but they will know they can’t afford to lose another game if they do lose this one if they harbour hopes of a semi-final spot, so there is a little pressure on them.
If Bangladesh are to have any chance in this match then they have got to bowl well. It looked like they had done that in their opening match against Afghanistan but since then it has transpired that the Afghan batting might not be up to the level. One thing we do know is their bowlers have made no impression in the last two matches and that has to change here else this could be like a previous ODI India have won against Bangladesh where they ran up over 400.
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Team News
India are not expected to make a change to a winning combination but they might like to get a game into Mohammad Shami at some point and you would imagine Jasprit Bumrah will be rested eventually too but I don’t think we are there yet.
Bangladesh have a major doubt over their captain Shakib Al Hasan and it would appear that he isn’t going to be risked in this game although he hasn’t officially been ruled out yet. Mahedi Hasan would be first in line to come in if needed.
Betting
I like a couple of bets over the course of this match with the first of them being the 8/11 that Rohit Sharma hits a six. He has two ducks against Bangladesh in his last 12 innings against them in ODI cricket but in the other 10 he has hit at least one six. He has hit five sixes on two separate occasions and three on three other outings. This ground in Pune is tiny and Rohit goes into this match in great form. He bludgeoned 100 against Afghanistan where he walloped five sixes and then he plundered another half a dozen in Ahmedabad against a very good Pakistan bowling unit. Bangladesh haven’t really bowled well in this tournament yet and gave up sixes to both Afghanistan openers, five sixes to Dawid Malan against England and half a dozen sixes to New Zealand batters albeit not their openers. When Rohit is in form he dominates attacks and if he gets in I expect him to hit multiple sixes.
There is no guarantee that Shakib Al Hasan plays in this match and if he doesn’t the chances of Mushfiqur Rahim top scoring for the Tigers will increase. The keeper-batter has put together 50s in his last two innings, the last of which against New Zealand was a top scoring effort. Mushfiqur has three 50s and a ton against India in ODI cricket in the past and will probably bat at the time where Jasprit Bumrah isn’t running in to bowl. Rahim looks in decent form and there aren’t too many of his colleagues who can say the same so the 13/2 on him top scoring again looks an acceptable play.
Tips
Back R.Sharma – Over 0.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
Back M.Rahim Top Bangladesh Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 7.50 with Betfair
