India A are all set to take on Bangladesh A in the second ODI of the three-match series at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday.
India A handed a crushing defeat to the Mominul Haque-led Bangladesh A side by 97 runs in the first ODI at Bangalore on Wednesday. Gurkeerat Singh Mann was the star of the show, who helped India A register a comprehensive victory over the visitors.
Gurkeerat Singh Mann scored 65 runs with his willow and then went on to add five important scalps to his name. Later, he was adjudged the man of the match for his stellar all-round performance. His skipper Unmukt Chand will be expecting a similar performance from him in the second ODI as well.
"Actually I've been trying to build my space at this batting order. I've been playing for Punjab also at number six or five. So, you can say I'm used to it. I need to bat at these situations, when you have pressure on yourself," Gurkeerat told the reporters in Bangalore after the first ODI.
Rishi Dhawan too came in handy both with the bat and ball. He also scored a quick-fire half-century and picked up a couple of wickets. Sanju Samson held the middle-order together with his brilliant 73 run innings. Mayank Agarwal, who has had a wonderful season so far, also scored a fifty in the 1st ODI at the top of the batting order. The India A side looks like a compact unit and they watch each other's backs. Chand will be looking forward to seal the three-match ODI series with another win in the second ODi on Friday in Bangalore.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh A side have a fair amount of international experience but they were not really impressive in the first game. The bowlers could not hit the right line and length. The batsmen, apart from Litton Das and Nasir Hossain, could not make any impact on the game. They began their run chase poorly and kept on losing wickets.
Soumya Sarkar, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque and Sabbir Rahman will have to bat responsibly in the upcoming ODI and release the pressure off the middle and lower-middle-order. The bowlers, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam and Taskin Ahmed proved to be rather expensive. Honestly, they cannot afford to leak so many runs being the strike bowlers in the side. Taskin Ahmed will not be featuring in the remaining matches in the series as he suffered a side strain during the 1st ODI. Seamer Kamrul Islam Rabbi will be replacing Ahmed for the rest of the tour.
Meanwhile, Suresh Raina's form will be a bit of concern for India A coach Rahul Dravid. Raina is desperate to get back to scoring ways ahead of the much anticipated India-South Africa series. He could only score 16 runs from 28 balls in the first ODI and that will not help his cause in putting up better performances against the big boys of South Africa.
Squads:
India 'A': Unmukt Chand (c), Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Karan Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, S. Aravind, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rush Kalaria, Gurkeerat Singh Mann.
Bangladesh 'A': Mominul Haque (c), Anamul Haque (wk), Rony Talukdar, , Litton Das, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Saqlain Sajib, Shuvagata Hom, Rubel Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Al-Amin Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Jubair Hossain.
Where to follow live:
The second ODI between India A and Bangladesh A will not be broadcast on any TV channel in India. The live streaming option is also not available. However, cricket fans in India and Bangladesh can follow the live scores and updates here.
