Bengaluru:
Galvanised by the triumph over arch-rivals Pakistan, a confident India will look for another colossal victory and inch closer to the semifinals when they square off against an embattled Bangladesh in the ICC World Twenty20 here.
Under tremendous pressure after the opening loss to New Zealand, inaugural champions India roared back by beating Pakistan in a high-voltage clash at the Eden Gardens to put their campaign back on track in the tournament.
A victory in tomorrow’s Super 10 Group 2 match would take the hosts a step closer to the coveted semifinal berth and the team would look to ensure that it wins big to improve its Net Run Rate, which took a hit owing to the New Zealand loss.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, are on the verge of being knocked out of the event and a win would go a long way in giving them a mathematical chance of making the last-four stage.
However, a close look at the current form of the two teams would make India outright favourites for the match even though Bangladesh have built a reputation of upstaging big teams in big events.
India’s formidable batting line-up, led by the peerless Virat Kohli, gives them a clear edge and should be more than a handful for the Bangladeshi bowlers, who would find it an enormous task to either contain or dismiss the hosts.
The only batting worry for India is the form of opener Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, all three of whom have looked distinctly uncomfortable in the two outings so far.
However, playing in home conditions, the trio is expected to strike form sooner than later and make up for its failures against the Kiwis and Pakistan.
But Kohli will be the cynosure of all eyes once again after belting a classy unbeaten 55 against Pakistan. The swashbuckling right-hander is currently a cut above the rest as far as ease of scoring is concerned.
And captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be hoping that Kohli once again anchors the Indian innings albeit with good support from the rest of the line-up.
