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Champions Trophy 2017 India vs Bangladesh match preview : India Face Resurgent Bangladesh in Semi Final

Champions Trophy 2017 India vs Bangladesh match preview : India Face Resurgent Bangladesh in Semi Final

When Bangaldeshis walk onto the field today, they will be making history by becoming the first team from the country to qualify for the semi-finals of an ICC tournament, and it is fit that they will meet neighbors and cricket powerhouse India for the first time in Champions Trophy history today at the Edgbaston, Birmingham in Semi-Final no 2 of the tournament. After the win against New Zealand in their last match, Bangladesh will be riding high on confidence, with their captain Mashrafe Mortaza proclaiming a changed Bangladesh.

“We are excited for sure but have to ensure that we play this match like a bilateral series game and not a semifinal match,” the Bangladesh skipper said, indicating how the mind will play its part on such a big occasion for the tournament upstarts.

With Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah in the side, in addition to Mortaza who has matured into one of the world’s finest all-rounders, Bangaldesh have a core of experienced players that can hold their own. Bangladesh have already tried a lot of bowling combinations in this tournament and with a legend like Courtney Walsh in the dressing room, there is no shortage of good advice for the bowlers.

Defending champions India, on the other hand, are coming off a convincing victory over South Africa in their last league match, showing that the team can rise up to a challenge in a high stakes encounter. Shikhar Dhawan was in fine form again, and India will look to him to give them a good start against Bangladesh. With the introduction of R Ashwin, India’s bowling attack has seemed to spring back to life, especially after the loss to Sri Lanka where they failed to defend a score of 321.

The match is for India’s to lose, as they have the stronger side in terms of both batting and bowling. It promises to be a high-octane clash nevertheless, as the Asian teams take on each other at the Birmingham venue, known for its density of Asian population. Indian fans will be especially hoping for a win, as Pakistan won tonight’s match, and the prospect of facing their arch-rivals in the finals of an ICC tournament is a dream come true for fans all over the world.

Venue:

Edgbaston, Birmingham

Date & Time:

Jun 15 ,  15:00 PM ( IST)

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Shami.

 Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahaman, Mahmudullah Riyadh, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahaman, Taskin Ahmed, Mehedi Hossain Miraz, Mossadek Hossain, Sunzamul Islam, Shafiul Islam.

Champions Trophy 2017 India vs Bangladesh match prediction

Expect an easy win for India given that their batting and bowling are firing in unison. Key players will include in form Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kholi and Ravi Chandran Ashwin.

About the author

Aiman

Keenly interested in sports of all sorts, I am a physicist by training and curious about everything.