The spearhead puzzle
India’s breakthrough man Jasprit Bumrah has been strangely off-colour this Asia Cup, with just 3 wickets in as many matches with an economy rate of 8.36. His opening bowling partner Hardik Pandya has also picked up 3 wickets and while the latter is in the team as an all-rounder, and can also contribute with the bat and on the field – cue the sensational running catch against Oman – Bumrah has struggled to find rhythm in his only specialty.
Slow and steady may not win the race
Bangladesh’s two best T20 batters – skipper Das (129 strike rate) and Towhid Hridoy (124 SR) have mediocre numbers to show for their efforts. In contrast, even India’s Shubman Gill, overshadowed by his opening partner Sharma, is striking at 158. The interesting battle will, however, be in the middle order where the likes of Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson will come up against Bangladesh’s spinners. Varma, who smashed an unbeaten 30 off 19 balls against Pakistan on Sunday, doesn’t have a great record against spinners in T20s this year. The left-hander has scored only 92 runs off 80 balls in seven innings at a strike-rate of 115 and a dot ball percentage of 38, something the Bangladesh think-tank would have surely taken note of.
Lots of sub-plots and this one has all the makings of a feisty encounter.