Ruthless Tigers Eying Second Successive Home-Series Win Over India

After a victory from the jaws of the defeat in the three-match series-opening game, Bangladesh now set their sights to seal their second consecutive home-series win over India when they take on the closed-door neighbour in the second ODI tomorrow (Wednesday) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, reports BSS.

The match which starts at 12 pm will be aired live on Gazi T V and T Sports Channel.

Bangladesh won the last bilateral series between the two sides at home by 2-1 in 2015 and that remained their only victory in a series in any format of cricket against India. The chance has now come to double it after an epic victory in the first game, which broke the morale of India, according to many cricket pundits.

There is even a sense of belief amongst the Bangladesh players that India would be out-of-sort and jaded further after such a demoralizing defeat.  

Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo said the magnitude of the thrilling one-wicket in the first match boosted the players' confidence to such an extent that they didn't think of anything but a victory and thereby seal the series with a match to go.

The head coach, however, admitted that they have to show improved performance because if they are put in such a tough situation again like in the first game, they won't get away with it every day.

After bowling India out for a paltry 186, thanks to a bowling masterclass of Shakib Al Hasan, who claimed 5-36 everyone expected an easy victory for Bangladesh. But the game went down the wire as Mehidy Hasan Miraz had to hold his nerve to steer the home side to the unlikely one-wicket victory against mighty India, staring down a deficit of 51 runs with one wicket in hand.

"There is confidence in this format," Domingo said. "Our record in Bangladesh is very good. There's a sense of excitement to play against India, who are one of the big teams in the world. There's also a sense that India will come back strong. We have to play better cricket than the first game, particularly with the bat. We can't get away with it again."

For Bangladesh victory like this was badly needed as they failed close out the game on several occasions and most of the time, it happened against India. Even in the T20 World Cup last month, they failed to win a game against India from a similar position.

However, the close victory snapped those streaks, giving Bangladesh the confidence that from now on they would be able to outclass India, whatever the position they are put on.

Bangladesh are likely to stick with the same squad which played in the first ODI even though most of the batters played wretched shots to worsen the side's situation. India who looked utterly tired in the field may bring up one or two changes in a bid to stay alive in the series.

The two teams played 37 matches so far between them with India winning 30. Bangladesh now won six matches while one match fetched no result.

Squad:

Bangladesh: Liton Das (captain), Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Nasum Ahmed, Mahmudullah, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan Sohan.

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Yash Dayal.