3 Bangladesh players India will have to be wary of in Asia Cup 2024 semi-final ft. Nahida Akter
The explosive competition of who'll be more dramatic between India and Bangladesh in a multi-team event continues on Friday as Harmanpreet Kaur's side takes on Nigar Sultana's girls in the 2024 Women's Asia Cup semi-finals in Dambulla.
Some would remember this rivalry for what happened in July last year when India visited Bangladesh where the ODI series ended in a tie. Kaur openly slammed the local umpires for allegedly being partisan, and did it again and again, also saying later that she didn't regret the outburst.
Others would remember it for India's stunning 5-0 white-wash in April this year. That would have certainly wounded Bangladesh and they'd know that there's no better revenge than ending Kaur's dream to retain the Asia Cup.
They are in good form too, having convincingly beaten Thailand and Malaysia to overcome the opening clash loss against Sri Lanka. India would know that they can't take the Tigers lightly, but there are three players in that camp that they definitely shouldn't underestimate.
Here they are:
#3 Murshida Khatun
Opener Murshida Khatun is Bangladesh's most in-form batter. She scored a 50 (55) against Thailand and followed it up with a 80 (59) against Malaysia.
She has every chance of playing another big knock against India, thanks to her ability to pick her bowlers, and excellent strike rotation. On these flat tracks, she can accelerate at will in the middle overs against spinners using her decent power game.
Getting her out early would be taking out Bangladesh's accumulator, which will allow India to build pressure on other batters by stopping the dots.
#2 Nigar Sultana
Only two players scored 50s in the last India-Bangladesh T20I series - Shafali Verma for India and skipper Nigar Sultana for Bangladesh. She's by far the best batter in the team.
Sultana perfectly compliments Khatun in the side. She can take on the bowling from the outset and is extremely strong down the wicket.
Against Malaysia, she smashed a 62* (37) with five fours and two sixes. When the entire Bangladesh line-up couldn't go past 25 runs against Sri Lanka, she stood up with a fighting 48.
While Khatun builds the game, Sultana can take it away from India even if she stays out there for three or four overs. She'll pick her time to come out, wait for the right bowlers and those will have to be at their best to keep her down.
#1 Nahida Akter
The joint second-highest wicket-taker in the Women's Asia Cup 2024, Nahida Akter is India's biggest threat with the ball for the semi-final. The left-arm spinner has a simple action but consistently puts the ball in the right areas and builds pressure to take wickets.
In the Sri Lanka game, Bangladeshi bowlers only picked up three wickets and all came through Nahida. She kept pitching the ball up and varying her speeds which, with a bit of help from the wicket, was extremely difficult for the Sri Lankan batters to counter.
India have been belligerent this tournament but the most wickets they have lost have come to left-arm bowlers. If Bangladesh have to do something special and reach the final, it'll have to come through a big performance from Nahida.