ICC World Cup: India Strike Back After Early Bangladesh Charge

Bangladesh openers Litton Das and Tanzid Tamim picked up the pace after a careful start.

They scored 10 runs off the first five overs, before taking on Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj over the next three overs, and garnering 27 runs off them.

India received a blow in the ninth over when Hardik Pandya hurt his ankle while trying to stop a ball in his run up. He was taken off field, and the remaining over was completed by Virat Kohli. Tanzid took 16 overs off Shardul Thakur in the last over of the first Powerplay.

India regrouped after the 10 over mark. As they have often done in this tournament, the India tweakers stemmed the flow of runs and provided crucial breakthroughs. Kuldeep Yadav struck first to trap Tanzid lbw in the 15th over. It was Ravindra Jadeja's turn to provide the next blow, and he got skipper Najmul leg before in the 20th over.

Rohit brought back the pacer Siraj soon after Mehidy Hasan Miraz came to the strike. And the pacer didn't take long to send the batter back to the pavilion. Mehidy fell to a brilliant catch from KL Rahul in the 25th over. From the 10th over till the mid-innings mark, Bangladesh added 68 runs and lost three wickets.

Bangladesh's stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto called it right at the toss and chose to bat first. He believed that the fresh Pune wicket would be good for batting. His opposite number, Rohit Sharma stated that he would have chosen to field.

Nasum Ahmed came in for Bangladesh, in place of the injured skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Hasan Mahmud replaces Taskin Ahmed.

The home side are eyeing a fourth consecutive victory and a return to the top of the Cricket World Cup standings after a bright start to their campaign.

Bangladesh also enjoyed a promising opening with a win over Afghanistan but have since found the going tougher with back-to-back matches against the two finalists from the last tournament in England and New Zealand.

While a third loss in a row would leave Bangladesh with little margin for error in the race for a crucial top-four finish, they do have strong recent form against India after snatching a final-over thriller in the Super Four stage of the recent Asia Cup.

Regular Bangladesh skipper Shakib compiled 80 runs in the first innings to be the leading scorer in a total of 265, which proved just enough as India lost three wickets in the last two overs to be all out six runs short.

India opener Shubman Gill smashed a century in the reply of that match and will be out to make a similar impact after overcoming illness to return to the line-up for the most recent Cricket World Cup clash with Pakistan.

Rohit (217 runs) and India star Virat Kohli (156) are already among the top run-scorers at the Cricket World Cup 2023.

Jasprit Bumrah has quickly impressed after returning from a back injury in time to be fit for the Cricket World Cup and already has eight wickets to be India's main bowling threat.

India have their own spin weapons with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja both taking five wickets at the tournament so far, along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Also Read: ICC World Cup: Shakib Ruled Out As Bangladesh Bat First Against India in Pune