Bangladesh shocked the world on Sunday afternoon when they drew first blood in the T20 series against India, and on Thursday they have the first of two chances to claim the spoils when the sides meet again in Rajkot.
India were well beaten in the first game so they will be eager to get back to winning ways here and set up a decider at the weekend. There is a lot of intrigue in this match after the win by Bangladesh on Sunday.
India
I don’t think India will need to search too hard to work out where they went wrong in the opening game. Apart from the last three or four overs or so with the bat they were timid and couldn’t really get going. Their top order needs to stand up and deliver from the off. If they do that, you would think the rest of their game is in a good enough order for them to come out on top here and level up the series.
Sometimes when a team is going well and are on a good run the best thing that can happen is an unexpected loss as it will keep their feet on the ground and make them work even harder. India didn’t put up a great total in the first game, a couple of big players just couldn’t get going so they will need to come to the party. The good thing is the bowlers bowled pretty well so although they lost, there isn’t a lot wrong with them.
Bangladesh
After the weeks leading up to the series and the tour, you have to give a lot of credit to the Bangladesh players for the performance they delivered in Delhi. It would have been so easy to think the world was against them and pack in before they started but they went the other way, got together as a unit and delivered an excellent display. They deserve more credit than they have got for that.
The win in the first game was another sign of how much this Bangladesh side are improving. They are without three or four of their better players on this tour so to knock off India on their own patch deserved a lot of credit. The key for them now is backing up that performance and ensuring they go on and win the series, and don’t waste that victory. If they can wrap up the series here it will be quite some feat.
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Team News
It will be interesting to see how India react to that defeat last time out. Shikhar Dhawan couldn’t score at a run a ball and that is a cardinal sin in this day and age. KL Rahul could come in for him if India do want to change.
You wouldn’t think Bangladesh will be in a hurry to make changes as they won pretty convincingly. That said, the pitch here is expected to heavily favour the spinners which could see Arafat Sunny coming into the side.
Betting
Conditions here will be of interest. There is a cyclone in the area earlier in the day of the match but the whole ground is said to be covered to avoid the threat that will bring but you’ve got to think the moisture in the air will make hitting boundaries tough. The pitch is said to be devoid of grass so it could well turn into a pudding and the ball gets indifferent bounces which makes it hard for the batsmen to hit through the ball.
The boundaries line for this match is up at 39.5 which would probably have been fine had the weather been set fair but you have to play the conditions when betting on this sport and if you don’t take them into account you won’t make money too often. There were only 36 boundaries in Delhi on Sunday in better conditions than we are going to get here so the under on this line attracts me.
Tips
WON – Back Under 39.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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