India’s troubles have only increased during their campaign, which has seen them win two games and lose three, including consecutive defeats against England and Australia.
Heavy fluctuations in batting performance were already a concern and with Australia chasing a record 278 runs in the previous match, the Indian bowlers needed to go ahead with ease.
The bowling looked pretty flat against the Aussies, who attacked with the first ball and created pressure. The move to drop an extra bowling option in Deepti Sharma and bring back batsman Shafali Verma didn’t work either.
Harmanpreet Kaur, who has returned to form with the bat, is yet to be used as an off-spinner in the competition.
It remains to be seen whether Shafali will be continued for the crucial competition and Yastika Bhatia returns on top to open with Smriti Mandhana.
One positive from Australia’s game was the return of skipper Mithali Raj between the runs. After some quiet games, Mandhana will also be expected to score big on Tuesday.
India find themselves in a difficult position as they have not met as a unit so far and this is something they will have to improve upon against Bangladesh, who have shown a lot of promise in their maiden ODI World Cup.
All-rounder Sneh Rana said, “The atmosphere remains positive. You feel disappointed after the loss but we are in a good position before tomorrow’s game. We will play to win, net run rate will be secondary.” Can’t take Bangladesh lightly.
“Bangladesh has come here by performing. They are always improving. There are no easy games in this World Cup,” he said.
Bangladesh have outclassed most of their opponents in the four matches they have played so far and this includes a memorable win over Pakistan.
Ahead of India’s game, captain Nigar Sultana said that the more they play at this level, the better they will be.
“We didn’t get to play a lot of ODIs in the past. We have a proper FTP now. We want to show that we are comfortable and we are capable at this level. Every game is a big opportunity for all of us,” Sultana said. .
Bangladesh failed to chase down 141 after a stellar bowling performance against West Indies in their last match and batting is one area they will need to improve a lot.
“We need to make sure we don’t repeat the mistakes we made in the last game,” Sultana said.
Squad (from):
Bangladesh: Nigaar Sultana (Captain), Salma Khatoon, Rumana Ahmed, Fargana Haque, Jahanara Alam, Shamima Sultana, Fahima Khatoon, Ritu Moni, Murshida Khatoon, Nahida Akhtar, Sharmin Akhtar, Lata Mandal, Shobhana Mostry, Fariha Trisna, Suraiya Azmin, Sanjeeda Akhtar Meghla.
India: Mithali Raj (captain), Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Tania Bhatia (wk), Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Poonam Yadav.
The match will start at 6.30 am Indian time.
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