World Cup 2019: Match 4, RSA vs BAN, Today's Predicted Playing 11 & Key Players for Bangladesh
Bangladesh are all set to kick off their 2019 World Cup campaign against South Africa at the Kennington Oval in London. In their previous World Cup appearance, Bangladesh stunned with a top performance that resulted in them qualifying for the quarter-finals after defeating England in the group stage to progress to the final eight.
However, things have changed ever since and currently, England are the favorites to win the 2019 World Cup. On the other side, the Bangla Tigers have also enjoyed a decent run and have achieved things which they had never done in their cricket history. Bangladesh reached the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and also won an ODI series prior to the World Cup.
Today, Bangladesh will open its 2019 World Cup campaign versus South Africa and here is how the match squad could shape up for today's match-
Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar will open the innings for Bangladesh. Regular opener, Tamim Iqbal is suffering an injury and the team management would not risk him given that this is a long tournament.
The experienced duo of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim will take the No.3 and No.4 positions respectively. Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman will form the team's core and also assume the role of the finishers in the slog overs.
Mohammad Saifuddin and skipper Mashrafe Mortaza will be the team's bowling all-rounders while off-spinner Mehedi Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman will be the key bowlers of the line-up.
Key Players for Bangladesh
Batsmen - Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim
Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim are the two most experienced players in the team and will have to step up and deliver the goods for Bangladesh today in the probable absence of opener Tamim Iqbal.
Given that they have the experience of playing in multiple World Cups, the Bangladeshi duo will be the team's MVPs this year.
Bowlers - Mashrafe Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman
Mashrafe Mortaza, the team's skipper will try to maximize his team's chances by hitting the deck hard to trouble the batsmen.
Mustafizur Rahman will be the team's strike bowler and he will be Bangladesh's X-factor in this tournament.
Predicted Playing XI
Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mehedi Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman.
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