Team India will face Bangladesh on Wednesday, a match that will decide whether or not the Men in Blue get to stay in the tournament. Both teams desperately need the win for the semi-final berth though India is above Bangladesh in the points table due to a better net run rate.
Both are with four points in three matches and India is currently placed in the second position in Group 2 of the Super 12 group with a net run rate of +0.844 after playing three games.
While Team India is currently nursing its wounds after a five-wicket defeat against South Africa in Perth last Sunday, Bangladesh proved their mettle by trouncing Zimbabwe by three runs in a nail-biting finish on the same day.
Interestingly, the weather could play a significant role as, if the match gets washed out as both teams will have to wait for the results of the clash between Pakistan and South Africa to learn their chances. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has predicted "cloudy and medium (60%) chance of showers, most likely in the evening. Winds southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h" for Wednesday.
India also had to move ahead with its practice sessions due to the showers in the city. The match will begin at 1.30 pm IST.
Meanwhile, coach Rahul Dravid has confirmed that KL Rahul will be opening the innings against Bangladesh with captain Rohit Sharma. Dravid's statement comes amid severe criticisms against Rahul for his dismal performance during the Pakistan and South Africa (22 runs in 3 matches).
"In words and in action over last one year, Rohit and I have shown that we fully back KL," head coach Dravid told reporters on Tuesday.
On whether he had concerns about Rahul, Dravid said he has got a proven track record. "I think he is a fantastic player. He has got a proven track record. He has done really well. He has been batting superbly and these things can happen in a T20 game sometimes, " Dravid said, adding that it has not been that easy for top-order batsmen (in this tournament). "He was superb in the practice game against Australia. With Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, it was a pretty good attack and I thought he batted superbly that day..."
It is also expected that Rishab Pant will replace Dinesh Karthik who suffered an injury during the match with South Africa. Though he has recovered, Dravid has said that he would decide on the matter only before the match.
India's predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Hooda
Bangladesh: Shakib al Hasan (captain), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Soumya Sarkar, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraj, Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Yasir Ali, Nasum Hossain, Mustafizur Rahaman
