New Delhi: Bangladesh have it in them to upset India in their Champions Trophy opener in Dubai on Thursday, skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto is convinced, pointing to their bowling attack filled with pacers and all-rounders.
Two-time former champions India are considered one of the favourites to win the tournament and Bangladesh will have to play out of their skins to win.
“All departments we have to play well to have any chance against India. We have good memories against India. If we execute our plan we have a good chance,” Shanto said in a pre-match interaction on Wednesday.
“We have got some good all rounders. We are depending on them. All teams are capable of winning. We fancy our chances. We are not thinking too much, we have some good fast bowlers.
“We are very happy to have fast bowler like (Nahid) Rana. If he plays, then he will do the job. We have good balance of spin and fast bowlers.”
Rana has had an impressive start to his professional career. All of 22, he has taken 20 wickets in six Tests and four wickets in three ODIs.
The Bumrah factor
While Bangladesh rely on their bowlers, India would be without their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has been ruled out with a back injury.
Bumrah sustained the injury during India’s 1-3 Border-Gavaskar series defeat in Australia and is yet to become full fit after undergoing rehabilitation.
Shanto though said Bangladesh are not thinking about any individual like Bumrah as he feels batters need to adapt quickly to the conditions in Dubai, where so far 58 matches have been played.
“In BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) couple of batters batted very well. We need to adjust. It’s not very high scoring compared to Pakistan. We have a lot of supporters. We expect crowd to come and support us,” he said.
Two-time former champions India are considered one of the favourites to win the Champions Trophy and begin their campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
