2024 T20 World Cup: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s India vs Bangladesh match
Like most teams in the 2024 T20 World Cup, India and Bangladesh have been carried by their bowlers.
While India have been helped by their out-of-form bowlers re-discovering their mojo after a batting-friendly IPL 2024, Bangladesh have rode on the exceptional skills of a couple of new talents with contributions from the seasoned men.
But now, as they meet on a pitch where Australia scored 100 in less than 12 overs in the last match against Bangladesh, the bowlers would be tested. It'll require a different kind of adaptability alongside excellent management of emotions from both sides, considering the history of passionate contests so far.
Below, we have predicted three bowlers who we think can ace this challenge:
#3 Arshdeep Singh
It's difficult to pick one between Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel as all three are in good form. Arshdeep gets an edge here because of his superior experience of playing and doing well against Bangladesh.
He has three wickets against them, including two in the 2022 T20 World Cup, apart from good ODI stats. Arshdeep is also India's highest wicket-taker in the 2024 T20 World Cup and the West Indies overall in T20Is, thanks to how well his skills of pace variations and swing suit the conditions here.
The left-arm quick is also coming off an excellent three-wicket haul against Afghanistan and can be backed to continue the same rich vein of form.
#2 Tanzim Hasan Sakib
Twenty-one-year-old right-arm quick Tanzim Hasan Sakib has been Bangladesh's best bowler in the 2024 T20 World Cup with nine wickets in five matches in his first such tournament. His pace, movement off the surface, and ability to make things happen with his tireless passion make him a significant threat to India.
The interesting thing about him is that despite being a right-arm pacer, he's much more successful against right-handers (12 wickets at an average of 11) than left-handers (one wicket at 132) after his first 10 matches. This means the struggling pair of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would again be in early trouble.
He's yet to play a T20I against India but took Rohit and Tilak Verma's wickets when he faced them for the first time in ODIs. His record against left-handers in ODIs is much better and this could be the game where, facing the out-of-form Shivam Dubey and Ravindra Jadeja he improves his numbers in T20Is as well.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah
When Pat Cummins took a hat-trick against Bangladesh at this venue, the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, it became obvious that India's gem Jasprit Bumrah would also be likely to find similar success here.
It's an excellent hit-the-deck deck and nobody does that better than Bumrah. He could also expose Bangladesh's weakness against extra pace and bounce, making him a dangerous bowler for the Bangla Tigers.
Moreover, thanks to India's increased bowling strength with Kuldeep's arrival, the batters don't get an outlet they can attack to compensate for being defensive against Bumrah. If Bangladesh are not careful, they will allow him to run through their batting lineup.