After a remarkable victory in the first match of the three-match series, Bangladesh are now looking to secure the series over India on Wednesday with one match remaining.
Seven years after their historic series win against India in 2015, Bangladesh are on the brink of winning another ODI series against a stronger opposition like India.
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That incredible victory was aided by the stellar performance of Mustafizur Rahman, who made a tremendous impression in his debut series with a remarkable display of bowling that left India’s batting line-up in tatters.
“Our team is confident in this format,” Bangladesh coach Russell Doming said on Tuesday. And he added that it won’t be easy for the Tigers to pull off a series win against India who have all the weapons to fire strongly.
“India are a quality side. They will come back strong. But I’d rather go into tomorrow’s game 1-0 up than 0-1 down,” the Bangladesh coach added.
In the first match, Bangladesh chased down a below-par total of 186 runs with a remarkable 51-run partnership on the last wicket. Without the stellar performance of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the outcome of the game could have been vastly different.
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Bangladesh coach insisted that the Tigers will have to bat well in the next matches. “We have to play better cricket than the first game, particularly with the bat. We can’t get away with it again,” he said.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad had difficulty making an impact in the first match on a surface that posed a challenge to batters, combining for 18 and 14 runs respectively and putting Bangladesh in a precarious position as they chased a below-par total.
Domingo, however, expressed full faith in Mahmudullah, noting that he will soon get back into his better form and reminding everyone of his 80 runs in the last ODI series in Zimbabwe.
Bangladesh are looking to secure a victory in the series, while Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan expressed his team’s desire to come back strong in the second match of the series.
“We know how to bounce back from this sort of situation,” Shikhar said in the pre-match press meet on Tuesday. “This is not the first time when we lost the first match of the series. It’s quite normal.”
Shikhar noted India’s desire to come back strong in this series, while also praising the highly passionate spectators of Bangladesh for bringing enthusiasm and intensity to each match.
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“You always feel that rivalry against Bangladesh, and of course, that happens against any team. But I feel Bangladeshi people are quite emotional and they really enjoy it and come with intensity,” Shikhar added mentioning that people of Bangladesh bring intensity to their games as well.
The match will start at 12pm (Dhaka time) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Following this match, the series will move to the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram for the third and final ODI.
Source: United News of Bangladesh