The Asia Cup 2018 enters into the Super 4 stage. First up, it will be India v Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. The two sides share a fair bit of history. In the recent years, the rivalry has grown, not much on the field, more so off it.

The final of the previous Asia Cup also featured India v Bangladesh. The Men in Blue then had defeated the neighbors and became the Asian Champions for the 6th time. The previous meeting between these 2 sides was also in a final. It was the Nidahas Trophy final where Dinesh Karthik’s heroics shattered the hopes of the Bangladeshi fans.

The Indians will be wary of the threat that Bangladesh possesses these days. They can’t be taken lightly anymore and their dominating performance against Sri Lanka is a testimony of that. India, on the other hand, would be filled with confidence after the thumping win over Pakistan.

The head to head record of India v Bangladesh goes heavily in the favor of the former. In 34 matches, India has won 27 while Bangladesh managed to win just 5. The most recent contests have been fought closely but the next encounter seems to be going in India’s favor.

Here is our prediction for the India v Bangladesh game

Case1: If India bats first

First Innings score prediction: 280-290

Result prediction: India will win the match by 50-60 runs

Case2: If Bangladesh bats first

First Innings score prediction: 230-240

Result prediction: India will win the match by 6 wickets

Head to head in ODIs

Total ODIs: 34, India won: 27, Bangladesh won: 5, No Result: 2

Team Compositions:

India

The Indian openers have been doing the bulk of the scoring so far. Shikhar Dhawan scored a hundred in the first game and then followed it up with 46 against Pakistan. Rohit Sharma looked good against Hong Kong but couldn’t score big. But versus Pakistan, he brought his A game and scored 52 off 39 balls.

India’s middle-order has been solid courtesy Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik. Both have scored decently in 2 games so far. A worrying factor for the team is the lower middle-order. MS Dhoni didn’t open his account against Hong Kong and there wasn’t much contribution after him.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was brilliant in the last game who bagged 3 wickets as well as the Man of the Match award. Jasprit Bumrah too was superb at the death. The 2 spinners Chahal and Kuldeep too did their duties well. But the premier destructor proved to be Kedar Jadhav who claimed 3 wickets. Now that Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the Asia Cup, India might bring in another pacer. Given the impressive show by Khaleel Ahmed against Hong Kong, he might get a look-in.

Precited XI

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma (c), Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed

Bangladesh

The team had a wonderful start to the tournament against Sri Lanka. Mushfiqur Rahim’s scintillating 144 scripted the victory for them. But Bangladesh opted to rest him in the inconsequential game against Afghanistan. While it was a wise move to keep him fresh for the game versus India, it resulted in a loss against the Afghans.

Other than Rahim, there hasn’t been any inspirational performance from the batsmen barring Mithun in the first game. They crumbled against the spinners of Afghanistan and the challenge won’t be easy in the India game as well. They’ll have to bat out of their skin just a day after the defeat to inflict something special.

Apart from the onslaught that the bowlers received from Rashid Khan in the last game during the slog overs, they have been impressive. Mustafizur Rahman was rested in the last game and he’ll be fresh now. Shakib Al Hasan bagged 4 wickets which is a great news for the team. Abu Haider also had a good debut but he might have to sit out to accommodate the Fizz.

Precited XI

Nazmul Hossain, Liton Das (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

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