🏏BD vs India - 3rd ODI: Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram 🏏

🏏Bangladesh vs India, 3rd ODI on 10th of December 2022 at 11:30 AM IST🏏

Those who have followed Bangladesh cricket closely over the last few years, ever since the team has emerged as a force to reckon with in ODI cricket, will be familiar with the term 'Banglawash'. Zimbabwe have been at the receiving end quite a few times and the West Indies felt the heat very recently as well. The last thing India would want is to get whitewashed and join the list on Saturday (December 10). But the likelihood of that is indeed quite high especially after the two morale-sapping losses.

To make matters worse, they are further depleted in personnel heading into this final ODI. KL Rahul will be leading the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma and India have only three fit fast bowlers to choose from.

India's bowlers have let the game slip away in both the games so far despite putting India in a dominant position at one stage. Mehidy Hasan Miraz has proven to be the thorn in their flesh so far and if the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim find their touch in order to support him, India will find it a lot tougher to pull one back.

Apart from failing to finish the job with the ball, India's major issue is at the top of the order in the batting department. The trio of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli over the years had done the bulk of the damage in the 50-over format but they have found the going tough so far. Kohli hasn't fired and Dhawan is certainly coming under tremendous pressure to hold onto his spot ahead of the World Cup, with Shubman Gill appearing ready to take over.

It will be interesting to see if Kohli and Dhawan open again in the absence of Rohit. If they do, India will certainly hope that they can set up a platform this time around. A win on Saturday will not only help them avoid an embarrassing 3-0 scoreline but also provide them some much-needed confidence ahead of the Test series. For the hosts though, this is indeed a massive occasion. They may have clinched the series already but a 3-0 scoreline against a side that has given them and their fans so many heartaches over the years will be one to savour forever.

According to weather reports, the temperature of Chattogram city of Bangladesh on December 10 (Saturday) will be 29° Celcius during the day and fall to 17° Celcius at night. The sky will be partly cloudy during the day but clear at night.

The chances of rain are 5% during the day and 7% at night. The humidity will be 66% during the day and rise to 83% at night. Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium is a good-scoring ground. The average 1st innings total at the stadium in ODIs is 215 while the average 2nd innings total is 190.

Team News

Bangladesh

Given they will be eyeing a historic 3-0 result, it's highly unlikely that Bangladesh will be making changes to their winning combination.

Probable XI: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das (C), Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

India

India will be forced to make at least two changes. Deepak Chahar is out and so is Rohit Sharma. The management did draft Kuldeep Yadav into the ODI squad ahead of the game so the likelihood of him replacing Chahar has increased. Will Ishan Kishan get a go at the top of the order in place of Rohit? The uncapped Rajat Patidar and Rahul Tripathi are in the squad as well.

Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan/Rahul Tripathi, KL Rahul (C&WK), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik

What they said:

"We have a much better chance (for a clean sweep) with him (Rohit Sharma) not playing. He is such a high calibre player. I was a bit surprised that he didn't come to bat earlier (in the second game). He maybe fell a ball short," - Bangladesh fielding coach Shane McDermott

"It's definitely quite disappointing with a few injuries that I had in the recent past but yes I want to be in the present and obviously now I am getting an opportunity and I just want to really perform to my best and really win games for India consistently." - India allrounder Washington Sundar

In the spotlight

Virat Kohli has a highest score of 18 in his last seven ODI innings. It's hard to call it a run of form, because he has played these seven ODIs over a span of ten months, and he's looked in excellent rhythm in other formats during this time. Even so, in Rohit Sharma's absence, India will hope their best batter can get back among the runs as they push for a consolation win.

Mustafizur Rahman has taken only one wicket in this series, but India have struggled to get him away. He conceded 14 runs in the final over of the second ODI, but despite that, he has only gone at 3.64 across his 17 overs so far. Can India break his stranglehold in potentially flatter conditions in Chattogram?

Stats and trivia

Bangladesh have won 13 of their last 14 bilateral ODI series at home. England were the last visiting side to win a series here, beating the hosts 2-1 in October 2016.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz averages 81.75 with the bat and 26.13 with the ball in ODIs in 2022. That average difference of 55.61 is the best of any allrounder who has scored least 100 runs and taken ten wickets this year, ahead of Cameron Green's 40.43 and Gerhard Erasmus' 28.56.

Mohammed Siraj - 15 wickets at an average of 16.26 - is the highest wicket-taker in the first ten overs of ODIs in 2022. Among bowlers from Full-Member teams, Trent Boult and Matt Henry (ten each) are a distant joint second.

BAN vs IND Probable Top Performers

Probable best batter: Shreyas Iyer

It is a no-brainer that Shreyas Iyer will once again need to anchor the Indian innings in the middle-order. Notably, Iyer is this year’s highest run-getter in One Day Internationals having scored 721 runs and the Mumbai cricketer must live up to that reputation in the third game. Shreyas had scored 82 runs in the previous fixture.

Probable best bowler: Umran Malik

Young pace sensation Umran Malik has so far lived up to the expectations by showcasing impressive performances with the ball in hand in the 50-overs format. The Jammu and Kashmir speedster finished with figures of 2/58 in the last game at an economy of 5.8 including two maidens.

Raji, thank you for the thread and, tagging me🤗

My best wishes to Team India. 👍🏼

Those who have followed Bangladesh cricket closely over the last few years, ever since the team has emerged as a force to reckon with in ODI cricket, will be familiar with the term 'Banglawash'. Zimbabwe have been at the receiving end quite a few times and the West Indies felt the heat very recently as well. The last thing India would want is to get whitewashed and join the list today. But the likelihood of that is indeed quite high especially after the two morale-sapping losses.

Thanks for thread n tag Raji