Litton Das failed a late fitness test in Dubai and a sore side has kept him out of Bangladesh’s Super Fours date with India. Stand-in skipper Jaker Ali, Bangladesh’s 12th T20I captain, therefore walked out for the toss, won it, and—without much fuss—decided he would rather chase.
“We’ll have a go with the ball first,” he told the TV interviewer, pointing to a surface that has stayed true right through the tournament. That was that.
Litton’s absence meant a juggling act at the top. Parvez Hossain Emon returned and is likely to partner Tanzid Hasan, while Saif Hasan slips to three. The Tigers also freshened the attack: leg-spinner Rishad Hossain, seamer Tanzim Hasan Sakib and the seam-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin came in for Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam. Saifuddin, who has endured a start-stop run of injuries, gets his first outing of the competition.
India, unsurprisingly, left well alone. Suryakumar Yadav leads an unchanged XI, banking on the balance provided by the two left-arm spinners—Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav—and the continued sharpness of Jasprit Bumrah.
Quick teams, then:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali (capt & wk), Shamim Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.
From a tactical angle, dew tends to roll in late in Dubai, which partly explains Jaker’s choice. Yet Bangladesh’s bigger concern will be stitching together 20 overs without Litton’s gloves and nous. If the replacement bowlers hit their lengths early, it could still be an even contest; if not, India’s heavy middle order is capable of running away.
Side strain or not, Litton will be missed. Whether his team-mates can cover the gap is tonight’s question.
