Despite captain Rohit Sharma’s heroic fifty, Team India failed to win the second ODI against Bangladesh and lost the series 2-0. KL Rahul will lead the team for the visitors, who will also be without their captain because he injured his thumb in the previous game.
Even though Bangladesh has won yet another series at home, the third One-Day International will be crucial for both teams. The winner may gain some momentum heading into the Test series later this month.
Once more, there will be individual matches that could decide whether or not the Men in Blue can avoid an embarrassing 3-0 loss. In light of this, let’s take a look at three of these intriguing confrontations:
#3 Shikhar Dhawan Vs Mustafizur Rahman
The seasoned Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan is unquestionably feeling some pressure regarding his place in the ODI team. The southpaw has not contributed significantly to the series thus far, and he also appeared completely out of sorts in the previous One-Day International.
In the second ODI, Mustafizur Rahman blew Dhawan out with a complete snort, and the latter will be confident that he will once again dominate the opener.
However, Rahman has also been run out for 71 runs in the ODIs in which he has bowled 68 balls to Dhawan.
This makes for a fascinating matchup that has the potential to set the tone early on for both teams.
#2 Virat Kohli Vs Ebadot Hossain
Ebadot Hossain has played a significant role for Bangladesh in the absence of their leading scorer Taskin Ahmed thus far. In only two games, he has gotten seven wickets, which says a lot about the effect that he has had on the series.
India needed the former captain to score big in the absence of the injured Rohit Sharma in the second ODI, and Virat Kohli’s wicket put them on the back foot. Kohli hit one into his stumps as Ebadot continued to hit hard lengths.
The speedster’s celebration style demonstrated how significant the wicket was. Kohli has been bowled out once in Test matches by the same bowler. The next time these two teams meet, the former Indian skipper will be determined to dominate the bowler.
#1 Washington Sundar Vs Shakib Al Hasan
Washington Sundar was the only bright spot in India’s disappointing bowling performance in the previous match. The all-rounder got figures of 3/37 and has five wickets in two games up to this point.
Sundar will be eager to make it three out of three when he fires the dangerous Shakib Al Hasan.
The southpaw, on the other hand, is a good hitter who will want to stop Sundar from dominating him. In the course of this series, Shakib has also expelled Sundar twice.
In the third One-Day International, the contest between the two all-rounders is expected to be interesting.