T20 World Cup: Taskin not picked as Bangladesh elect to bowl first against India

North Sound (Antigua): Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the Super Eight stage clash in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium here on Saturday.

India are only one of the three sides alongside Australia and South Africa to have remained undefeated in the tournament, after beating Afghanistan by 47 runs at Barbados. A win for India on Saturday will strengthen their prospects of entering the semifinals, and in turn, will make things tougher for Bangladesh, who lost their previous Super Eight stage game to Australia at this venue.

After winning the toss, Shanto said pacer Taskin Ahmed is not included in the playing XI, with Jaker Ali replacing him. "We'll try to restrict them to a small total and then chase it down. It's very important, it's a good opportunity to play here, we’ve played some good cricket and we hope to continue. It looks a good pitch, 150-160 will be a good score I think."

India also lead the head-to-head record against Bangladesh in Men’s T20Is by 12-1. Moreover, despite a few games running close, India have never lost to Bangladesh in the four meetings between the two teams in Men’s T20 World Cups. More recently, India beat Bangladesh by 60 runs in their lone warm-up game ahead of the ongoing tournament at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 1. India skipper Rohit Sharma said they are fielding an unchanged playing eleven.

“We wanted to bat and that's what we got. Looks like a good wicket and depends on how much the sun is beating down and making the pitch slow. Important to assess the conditions quickly. Important to stay in the present and not worry about other things,” he said.

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah

Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman