Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the Asia Cup 2018, as India is set to take on Bangladesh in the first Super Four game on Friday, September 21, 2018, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. The match is scheduled to start at 5:00 PM IST, 5:30 PM BST.
India qualified from group A, after beating Hong Kong and Pakistan while Bangladesh qualified from group B by beating Sri Lanka and losing to Afghanistan. The two teams have played 33 ODI games against each other, out of which India has won 27 games while Bangladesh has won only five games and one match ended without a result.
Abu Hider might be benched after an impressive debut
Mustafizur Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim missed the game against Afghanistan due to minor injury concerns. According to an article on Cricbuzz, the duo is set to be back against India in the first game of the Super Four. Their inclusion might force Bangladesh to bench Mominul Haque and Abu Hider Rony, who bowled well during his debut match against Afghanistan. If overnight, Bangladesh has no injuries worries coming to light, they should be going into this game, with just two changes. Dubai was the venue where they beat Sri Lanka, and that is one thing which will help them to gain self-confidence, especially when they are playing back-to-back games, while also traveling from Abu Dhabi.
Jadeja, Chahar, and Kaul called in as injury cover
India has a fairly settled unit. They are coming into this game after rather an easy win against Pakistan on Wednesday. Led by Rohit Sharma, India is unlikely to make a lot of chances. According to Cricbuzz, Pandya, Axar Patel, and Shardul Thakur were sent home due to their injuries.
Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, and Siddharth Kaul were called in as their replacements. If Jadeja makes it into the XI replacing Pandya, it won't be much of a surprise given Jadeja's batting abilities. It will be interesting to see what kind of a bowling combination do India opt for, now that seam bowling all-rounder Pandya is out of the tournament.
The pitch in Dubai has been slow in the tournament so far, and that is unlikely to change on Friday as well. The temperatures are expected to go above 40 degrees, and playing in that heat would be a problem surely. Spinners and bowlers with some variations will be key in this crucial encounter.
