🏏Bangladesh vs India, 2nd ODI on 7th December 2022 at 11:30 AM IST🏏
It's easy to view the opening game as an upset. India are ranked fourth and Bangladesh seventh after all, and the visitors have a history of superlative performances in the format; they, in fact, have won 30 of the 37 ODIs between the sides. But look closer and you will see why Bangladesh winning the first ODI wasn't as unprecedented as it seems.
The hosts haven't lost an ODI series at home since October 2016. They have comfortably defeated the likes of Zimbabwe, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the meanwhile, and looked increasingly comfortable in a format they enjoy playing. Like head coach Russell Domingo said, "There is confidence in this format." It was evident in how they bowled against India the other night and then found a hero in Mehidy Hasan to snatch the game from the jaws of defeat, but truth be told, they would like a less nerve-wracking win this time around.
For India, a defeat in the second ODI could mean back-to-back series losses in Bangladesh, the last one coming back in 2015. The first thing they would want to get right is their game plan against left-arm spin. It wasn't the first time that Shakib Al Hasan left India bamboozled by the arm-ball. Runs against him were hard to come by even on their last tour, but Mustafizur Rahman stole the thunder then with the sheer number of wickets on that occasion. This time, Shakib is all over the charts and will pose questions for India once again.
The visitors, though, can take heart from the bowling of Mohammed Siraj in the opening ODI. Their problems scaled up only when Siraj was done with his spell, with the other bowlers finding it difficult to polish the tail off. Can the unit conjure up an all-round performance and take the series to a decider?
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