India eye turnaround against gung-ho Bangladesh

Mirpur (Bangladesh), June 20 (IANS) After getting convincingly beaten by hosts Bangladesh in the first One-Day International (ODI), India will aim to put up a much better performance and level the three-match series in the second ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Sunday.

Bangladesh produced a clinical all-round show to claim a memorable 79-run victory against India in their first ODI here on Thursday, thanks to left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman (5/50) who made a dream debut to fashion the victory for the home team.

It was Bangladesh's only fourth win in 30 ODI matches against their mighty neighbours, which also avenged their controversial World Cup quarter-final loss that started hostility among the two cricketing boards, and culminated with the resignation of Bangladesh's Mustafa Kamal as the International Cricket Council (ICC) president.

The home team got a rollicking start to their innings with openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar giving them a hundred-run stand in less than 14 overs. Later on fireworks by Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman helped side reach a score more than 300.

India's premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the most successful bowler with 3/51, other pacers and spinners all went for plenty.

In reply, India never looked to be prepared for the run chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals to make life difficult for themselves.

With the win, Bangladesh has enhanced their chances of securing a 2017 Champions Trophy berth. The win took Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's side past the West Indies in the ODI team ranking to the seventh spot in the ICC rankings. Both Bangladesh and the West Indies had 88 points before the match. While the Caribbean side remain with the same number of points, Bangladesh have jumped to 91.

Nothing went right for India in the first ODI as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman were both fined by the ICC on Friday following their mid-pitch collision in Thursday night's match.

Dhoni was fined 75 per cent of his match fee, while Mustafizur was docked half of his fee.

On Sunday, the visitors will aim to put all the drama behind and look for a fresh start.

India has very few positives to carry out from the first ODI. Ashwin's tight bowling and opener Rohit Sharma's composed innings of 63 runs are the two which the visitors can take home from the first game.

Pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma, although picked wickets, failed to check the run flow. The trio will look to put up a much better performance if India are to stay alive in the series.

Openers Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan giving them a 95-run stand and Suresh Raina coming up with few big blows later in the innings, India has nothing much to show with the bat.

Virat Kohli, who's last three ODI score being 3,1 and 1, will be eagerly waiting to get runs under his belt. Ajinkya Rahane also missed out cheaply.

Their opponents have proved they have done their homework well and will aim to put up another similar show and seal the three-match series 2-0 on Sunday itself.

Bangladesh squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Rony Talukdar, Mustafizur Rahman, Liton Das.

India squad: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Axar Patel.