Tigers want to increase semi-hopes

Bangladesh will be looking to brighten their chance to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup by beating India in their penultimate Group 2 Super 12 match at Adelaide Oval in Adelaide today.

However, rain may play a spoilsport in the match, which is scheduled to start at 2:00pm (BST). T Sports and GTV will telecast the game live.

Both the teams are currently in a similar position-- having won two out of their three matches in the tournament so far -- to qualify for the semi-finals but India are ahead of Bangladesh in terms of net run rate.

South Africa are leading the ladder with five points from three games while Zimbabwe and Pakistan still have some chances to finish in the top two in this group. Netherlands have already been knocked out of the race for the last four.

Although Bangladesh are in a very good position to progress to the semi-finals for the first time in a T20 World Cup, they remain realistic ahead of the crucial India encounter.

The Tigers have already achieved their best T20 World Cup results from the ongoing tournament as they have beaten both Netherlands and Zimbabwe in the main stage but in order to reach the last four, they still require two more wins from their last two matches against India and Pakistan.

India have recently suffered a five-wicket defeat against South Africa to whom the Tigers conceded a 104-run bashing in their second match.

However, the stats and strength of both sides suggest that India will be the clear favourites against Bangladesh in this important tie of the group and it was also admitted by Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan during the pre-match press conference.

Bangladesh have played 11 T20Is so far against India from where they could win only one game and lost the remaining ones.

While India have a lot of experience and depth in their side, this Bangladesh side is a much younger one than the other teams in this tournament and it will not be wise to make any comparison between the teams.

“India are favourites and they’ve come here to win the World Cup. We aren’t the favourites and haven’t come here to win the World Cup,” Shakib told reporters in Adelaide during a long interaction on Tuesday.

“We’re very much aware that if we can beat India, it’ll be an upset. We want to give our best cricket here,” he added.

There is a huge possibility that Bangladesh finish with one point as there is a 60 percent chance of rain during the night match.

On Tuesday, there was a hide-and-seek game in Adelaide between rain, sun and cold weather and the continuation of that is very likely today as well.

Meanwhile, India’s head coach Rahul Dravid said his charges would respond as per the demand of the situation in the Bangladesh game and claimed themselves lucky to get three full games so far in the tournament.

“I mean, from our general chat has always been to control what we can control. The weather and what is going to happen, unfortunately, we can’t really control it,” he said on Tuesday.

“I think considering one -- I think Afghanistan has been a bit unfortunate. They’ve missed two of the games that have been washed out. We’ve been lucky, we’ve been able to play all three of our games for full 20 overs. If the weather tomorrow challenges us or forces us to play a 10-, 12-over game, then we’ll respond accordingly. We will play it like it is,” he added.

By Daily Sun