India’s fringe players will have a chance to impress the selectors in the build-up to next year’s cricket World Cup on Sunday when they begin a short one-day series tour to Bangladesh.
The visitors are without eight regulars, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the prolific Virat Kohli, for the three day-night matches, which will all be played at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in the capital Dhaka and led by Suresh Raina.
When asked whether India were weakened by the absence of its top players, Raina said: “I don’t think so.”
“The young Indian team is coming up. They have done well in the IPL and first class and so you need to give a chance to youngsters as the World Cup is coming up,” Raina told reporters in Dhaka Saturday.
“It’s a great platform for them to cement their places in the Indian team,” he said.
Just four members of the squad — Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny and Wriddhiman Saha — will fly to England later in the month for a marquee tour comprising five Tests, five ODIs and one Twenty20.
The series offers the likes of Pujara, who has six Test centuries but has played in just two one-dayers, a chance to stake their claims to a place in the squad for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“It is a good opportunity for all the young players who are part of this tour,” Pujara, 26, said after being named for the Bangladesh series.
“Playing against Bangladesh in their home conditions won’t be that easy. Bangladesh is a good team. We have a young side so it will be competitive.”
For Bangladesh, it will be their first series under new coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, who has been handed a two-year contract following the recent departure of Australian Shane Jurgensen.
Hathurusinghe would be keen to start off on a winning note and turn around the fortunes of the perennial whipping boys of international cricket.
“My main goal is to make sure that when my two years is finished, Bangladesh are in a good position to win matches at home and away,” the former Sri Lankan opening batsman said at a press conference earlier this week.
Ranked a lowly ninth in ODIs, Bangladesh have had a string of disappointing shows recently with a 3-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka followed by early knockouts from the Asia Cup and World Twenty20 despite being hosts of both tournaments.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said the team had an opportunity to bounce back with a good show against the second-string Indian side.
“I didn’t expect them to take this series so lightly,” the wicket-keeper batsman told reporters recently.
“We have a chance to give a reply on the field. There is extra motivation.
“And one should not forget that if they lose, India will lose, not India A,” the skipper added.
India, the World Cup holders, currently lie third in the ODI rankings.
The other two matches are on June 17 and 19.
Sqauds:
India: Suresh Raina (capt.), Robin Uthappa, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Parvez Rasool, Akshar Patel, R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Shamsur Rahman, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mithun Ali, Abdur Razzak, Masrafe Mortaza, Shohag Gazi, Ziaur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed
