After drubbing South Africa in the Test series, Team India will now shift focus to the shortest format of the game with an eye on several youngsters. Rohit Sharma will lead a youthful Indian side consisting of Rahul Chahar, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube against a Shakib Al Hasan-less Bangladesh at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday. This will be the first T20 international of a three-match series between the sub-continent rivals.
Yuzvendra Chahal has missed several games in the recent months after the 2019 World Cup. India have been trying out some young spinners like Washington Sundar and Rahul Chahar before the World T20 and Chahal has missed out on a place in squad. But Chahal will now have a chance to redeem his place in the side against Bangladesh. Chahal could join an elite list of cricketers with a match-winning performance in Delhi.
Chahal needs only 4 scalps to complete 50 T20I wickets and become the third Indian after Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah to achieve the feat. Ashwin is the leading wicket-taker for India in T20I with 52 while Bumrah is only a single wicket behind him.
India hold an impeccable record against Bangladesh in the shortest format and they will be eager to extend that in the upcoming clash. The two teams have clashed eight times in T20Is and India have come out victorious in all.
Also, eight defeats against India is the joint most defeats for Bangladesh against a team in T20Is. However, Rohit is not going to rest on the laurels as they have set themselves a target in shortest format of the game.
“We have looked at certain number of stats on how we chase and set target. Our numbers are great when we chase down the total. We want to focus on setting targets and defending them. The last T20I we played at Bengaluru against South Africa, we batted first on a sticky wicket as we wanted to challenge ourselves before T20 World Cup next year,” Sharma told reporters.
“At the same time, we want to win games as well. We have not done well in the T20 format recently, probably we are ranked at number five in the ICC T20I rankings. We want to be at the top in all three formats of the game,” he added.
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