Nidahas Trophy, 2018: India vs Bangladesh, 5th T20I: Statistical Preview
After losing the first match to hosts Sri Lanka, the Indian cricket team bounced back extremely well to win their next two encounters.
The Rohit Sharma led side defeated Bangladesh by six wickets and consolidated that win by defeating Sri Lanka in their third match of the tournament. Shikhar Dhawan, who was India's best batsman in the first two games, failed to perform in the third game. However, Manish Pandey continued his fine run with the bat, and along with Dinesh Karthik, the two batsmen guided India home to a comfortable victory in a rain-curtailed encounter against the hosts.
The Indian bowlers, who were not up to the mark in the first match, made up for their mistakes in the next two encounters by not allowing the opposition batsmen to get the better of them on many occasions.
Currently, on top of the table, the Men in Blue have one foot into the final. However, they will hope to seal the deal and guarantee their spot in the final by defeating Bangladesh in their fourth match of the Nidahas Trophy.
As far as the venue is concerned, India has claimed victory in eight of their ten outings at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Bangladesh, on the other hand, has a 50% win record, winning two out of the four matches played at the stadium.
The head to head record between the two sides is completely one-sided, with India having defeated Bangladesh in all the six matches they have played in the past.
Rohit Sharma might be going through an extremely poor run of form with the bat, however, his captaincy record still remains great, with India having won six out of the seven matches under him. India's first loss with Rohit as captain came in the first match of this tournament against Sri Lanka.
Mahmudullah, on the other hand, achieved his first win as captain of Bangladesh's T20I side when they defeated Sri Lanka in a thriller of a contest on March 10.
As we can see, the list of most runs scored amongst the two sides features only Indians in the top five. Manish Pandey, who has been extremely consistent, is closing in on Shikhar Dhawan at the top.
Rohit Sharma, despite being in poor form, continues to be at the third position.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who is one of the best T20I bowlers in the world, sits pretty on top of the list of the highest wicket-takers in T20Is since 2017. Jaydev Unadkat, who made his way into the side last year, is slowly climbing up the list and could soon catch Chahal.
However, his economy rate has not been too good and he will hope to improve on that aspect of his bowling in the upcoming matches.
Washington Sundar, the 18-year-old all-rounder, is making a name for himself with his bowling performances over the past few matches. With an economy rate of 5.9, he is surely one to watch out for.
The only Bangladeshi bowler to feature on this list - Shakib al Hasan, was ruled out of the Nidahas Trophy.
The fifth match of the tournament between India and Bangladesh will take place in Colombo. A win for India will ensure their spot in the final. However, even if they lose, they will most likely continue to be on top of the table.
All the above statistics were courtesy of Opta