By: LakshmiPS
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl in the second of the three Twenty20 internationals against Bangladesh in Rajkot on Thursday.
The hosts, who trail the series 1-0, have fielded an unchanged side from their opening loss in Delhi on Sunday.
“Rajkot’s always been a good track despite some cracks. Think there may be dew later, so life will be easier for the batsmen,” Sharma, who is set to play his 100th T20 for India, said at the toss.
“The set of boys we have are new and I want to make them comfortable. When you have a score in front of you, then the batsmen know what sort of tempo they need to bat with.
“No changes because our performances in the last game were right up there, barring a few mistakes.”
India posted 148-6 while batting first in the opening game before wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim anchored Bangladesh’s chase with his unbeaten 60.
Bangladesh retained their winning XI from the first game, with captain Mahmudullah Riyad saying the Rajkot fixture was a “good opportunity” to clinch the series.
“I would have loved to bowl first too but now will want to put some runs on the board,” said Mahmudullah.
“It’s a good opportunity for all of us (to win the series). Important for the senior players to do well. Even the youngsters have done well.”
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Khaleel Ahmed
Bangladesh: Mahmudullah Riyad (capt), Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Naim, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Aminul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain
Umpires: Chettithody Shamshuddin (IND), Nitin Menon (IND)
TV Umpire: Anil Chaudhary (IND)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
(AFP)
