Big picture: Bangladesh’s last chance to salvage some pride
After winning the Test series 2-0, India will be keen to extend their dominance against Bangladesh to the end by carrying their T20I form from Gwalior and Delhi to Hyderabad, for the third T20I. It is the last match of the tour where Bangladesh batted badly, and bowled well only in certain periods. That was not good enough as India showed their superior T20 skills.
In the second T20I, the home team posted the highest total against Bangladesh despite losing by three wickets in the powerplay. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh added 108 for the fourth wicket before Hardik Pandya and Riyan Parag scored the killer runs. The target of 222 was very difficult for the visitors who could only manage 135 in 9 overs. India now have a chance to test the rest of the squad after being unchanged from the first two games.
The only consolation for Bangladesh in this series so far is that their seamers have performed satisfactorily. Taskin Ahmed took 2 for 16 for Delhi while Mustafizur Rahman was brilliant as usual and Tanzim Hasan Sakib showed his growing skills. The spinners, however, could not find their proper length and bring it down.
Bangladesh’s top order, too, did not give them a good start. Litton Das and newcomer Parvez Hossain Emon toiled in the bowling without the results they wanted, while captain Najmul Hossain Shanto looked good in patches before coming in early. The top order and spinners have to get their act together so that the visitors get one last chance to threaten at least the hosts in this tour.
Form guide
India WWWWW (last five T20Is, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLLLL
Highlights: Nitish Kumar Reddy and Mahmudullah
Team news: India to test bench strength?
Ravi Bishnoi, Tilak Verma, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana warmed the bench in the first two T20Is but they could get a run in Hyderabad, especially now that the series is decided.
India (probable): 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Riyan Parag, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Varun Chakravarthy/Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mayank Yadav/Harshit Rana
Bangladesh may bring Mahedi Hasan in place of Jaker Ali.
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Parvez Hossain Emon, 2 Litton Das (wk), 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Hasan Sakib, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
Pitch and conditions: Rain may affect play
In IPL 2024, the three sides who scored 200-plus first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium won the match. However, there is a forecast of rain in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Statistics and trivia: India expands home rule
- India extended their unbeaten run in the bilateral T20I series at home to 16 after defeating Bangladesh by 86 runs in Delhi. In games dating back to September 2019, they have won 14 series and drawn two.
- In IPL 2024, Abhishek Sharma scored 284 runs, including five fifties, at a strike rate of 249.12 in Hyderabad.
- In Delhi, India used seven bowlers and each took at least one wicket, making it the first such occurrence in T20Is.
- Bangladesh’s spinners scored 14.75 runs per over in Delhi, their joint-highest performance in a T20I when they bowled at least five overs.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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