India, Bangladesh search for new heroes in T20I series

New Delhi: Bangladesh, still coping with the ban imposed on star all-rounder Shakib al Hasan, will play three T20Is and two Tests against India over the month of November. The tour begins with a T20I in New Delhi on Sunday.

The next two T20Is - in Rajkot and Nagpur - are scheduled on Thursday and Sunday the following week. The two teams will then play the 1st Test in Indore from November 14, before moving on to the much-anticipated pink-ball Test in Kolkata from November 22.

Virat Kohli's absence from the India squad in the T20I series gives some others chances to step up. Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer, who have got limited opportunities to seal their place in the middle order so far, can be expected to get an extended run in the Bangladesh series.

Rohit Sharma, who is in line to become the most capped Indian and also the highest run-scorer in T20I history in the course of the series, will be leading India in the T20Is.

Sanju Samson and Shivam Dubey, the two fresh faces in the squad, will also have a lot of attention on them. Samson can put Rishabh Pant under pressure with a good series and Shivam Dubey might play a similar role for Hardik Pandya, who is also not part of the series.

The returns of Yuzvendra Chahal and Shardul Thakur into the India squad also offers chances of a surprise or two.

Mahmudullah will be leading a depleted Bangladesh side in the T20I series. Bangladesh will miss not only Shakib, but also senior pro Tamim Iqbal, who has opted out of the tour for personal reasons.

Teams from

India: Rohit Sharma(Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant(wk), Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur.

Bangladesh: Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Naim, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Animul Islam, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Arafat Sunny, Al-Amin Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaiful Islam, Abu Haider Rony, Mohammad Mithun, Taijul Islam.

Pitch and conditions
The after-effects of Diwali have led to a public-health emergency in Delhi, and conditions will continue might continue to be hazy on Sunday as well. The pitch for the last international game - an ODI against Australia - at the Feroz Shah Kotla offered some purchase for the spinners as the match progressed.

Stats and trivia

• India have played eight T20Is against Bangladesh and have won all of them. This is the second time India are playing Bangladesh at home, the first being the nerve-wracking World T20 encounter in Bengaluru in 2016.
• Since the 2016 T20 World Cup, India have had a run rate of 8.66. Only Australia and New Zealand have scored faster than India in this period.

Match facts
Sunday November 3, 2019
Start time 1900 IST (1330 GMT)