Bangladesh without skipper Shakib against India
Cricket
He's struggling a bit, but we hope he'd recover very soon
PUNE, India (Reuters) - Bangladesh are without injured skipper Shakib Al Hasan for the daunting task of halting India's winning run at the World Cup in Pune on Thursday.
Stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to bat against an India side chasing their fourth successive victory in the tournament.
"He's struggling a bit, but we hope he'd recover very soon," Shanto said of Shakib, who suffered a left quad injury during their defeat by New Zealand in Chennai last week.
"We have some great memories against India, hopefully we'll continue our form against them." Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed was drafted in to replace Shakib in the squad.
Home captain Rohit Sharma said he would have opted to bowl first anyway at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. The hosts have looked clinical in the tournament so far and Rohit attributed their free-flowing performances to a relaxed dressing room.
"This is something we have been working on for a while," he said. "Keeping everybody in a good space, that's one of the biggest challenges that you face in a long tournament." "The boys are really in good shape, in good mental space as well and enjoying the cricket we are playing."
Teams:
Bangladesh: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
