India made as many as five changes for their last Asia Cup Super 4 match against Bangladesh but there was no sign of Shreyas Iyer. In an official medical update, BCCI said that Iyer is recovering well but still is not fully fit. “Shreyas Iyer has shown improvement but he is not yet fully fit,” said BCCI. Iyer made a comeback to the Indian side in this Asia Cup after a long lay-off due to a back injury. But his return was cut short. After playing just two matches – against Nepal and Pakistan – in the group stage, he hurt his back again during a warm-up session minutes before the Super 4 match against Pakistan.
The right-hander since then hasn’t played any part in this tournament. On the eve of the Bangladesh match, Iyer did spend a good time taking throwdowns in the nets but he was not at his fluent best. He even had some pain while going through a physical drill.
With the World Cup knocking at the doors, the Indian team management did not want to risk Iyer for a dead rubber. It will be interesting to see if he is fit to play the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka on Sunday, If not, then the selectors will probably have to take a call as there will only be three more ODIs against Australia to test Iyer’s fitness before the World Cup starts.
One would like to believe that Super 4 match against Bangladesh is a step in the right direction as India decided to give game-time to all their players who were sitting on the bench. That means Tilak Varma got his ODI cap and Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna were drafted into the XI for the first time in this Asia Cup. Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami too were brought back into the XI.
The players missing were Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah.
The debut of Tilak Varma is an interesting move as India would like to keep their options open just in case Iyer doesn’t regain his full fitness on time. The left-hander is not in India’s World Cup squad but a change can be till September 28.
Tilak shot into the limelight with a fantastic debut against the West Indies where he performed under difficult circumstances in the five-match T20I series. Two more factors go in his favour – he is a left-hander and bowls decent part-time off-spin.
There is another cricketer who would like to use this opportunity to make a case for himself, and that is Suryakumar Yadav. The undisputed king of T20Is has not managed to crack the ODI code but the team management has kept their faith in him for the 50-over format.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to field first. “We are gonna field first. It is something we haven’t done in the tournament, we haven’t done it under lights so it gives us an opportunity to bat under lights. The wicket honestly has got everything for everyone,” he said.
Bangladesh Playing XI: Litton Das(w), Tanzid Hasan, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul(w), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna
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