Hello and welcome to what is quickly flourishing into a potboiler of a rivalry. It’s Bangladesh v India. I’m Shashank Kishore, pleased to have Karthik Krishnaswamy’s company for tonight’s game.
Thanks, Shashank. As soon as I enter the commentary pod, a sheet of hessian goes onto the pitch. It’s quite overcast right now, but it isn’t raining, and the actual covers aren’t on. Let’s hope we start on time.
Just a little over 15 minutes to the first ball. It’s a good time to welcome Karthik Krishnaswamy into the hot seat while I grab some lunch.
IT’S TOSS TIMEEEEEEEE…..yelps Ravi Shastri.
Tails says Shakib, tails it is Bangladesh. They’ll bowl first.
“Don’t know what the best score is on this pitch,” says Shakib. “Know what’s coming at us, we’re well prepared. Boys gelling well together, everyone looking forward to this. Need to continue doing good things. Batting is one area we can improve. Our fast bowling terrific.”
One change for Bangladesh: Soumya Sarkar is out, Shoriful Islam comes in. That means Bangladesh are playing an extra fast bowler today.
Rohit says he would’ve loved to bat. So both sides get what they wanted.
India too make one change. Axar in, Hooda out.
The XIs for you
Bangladesh: 1 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 2 Litton Das, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Afif Hossain, 5 Nurul Hasan (wk), 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Yasir Ali, 8 Taskin Ahmed, 9 Mustafizur Rahman, 10 Hasan Mahmud, 11 Shoriful Islam
India: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Arshdeep Singh
I’m told it’s gotten chilly in Adelaide. The Indian players are out on the field, armed with hand warmers, hoodies and caps. Conditions seem to have become blustery as well. We’re minutes away from the toss.
Aditya: “The problem with Bangladesh is the leadership – I mean how exactly do you expect players to perform if the captain says we aren’t even here to win the world cup?”
Bangla Vikki: “Shakib played down Bangladesh’s chances, but if Taskin Ahmed makes new ball talk, an upset can’t be ruled out. Taskin in form of his life.”
Md. Hafizur Rah: “Shakib Al Hasan blown away the pressure from team BD by saying “India is the favourite team, they came here to win the World Cup. We are not favourites, we didn’t come here to win the World Cup.” So they have nothing to lose, only have everything to gain. This could be dangerous for India. Come on tigers, make an upset today.”
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Wajid Jawaid with a pertinent question: “As a Bangladeshi player who got to know about their captain’s comment on their overall team potential, would you be motivated to prove yourself or deflated due to lack of confidence by the skipper?”
5,35pm Plenty of you asking if KL Rahul will play. Currently, that’s not even a debate, if the team management is to be believed.
If you’re in the US, you can watch this game live on ESPN+ in English or in Hindi.
Shirish : “What about DK, is he playing?” — Doing laps around the ground, is being monitored closely by the S&C coach. Dravid said yesterday that he’s pulled up fine and that a final call will be taken before the toss.
Shahadat Raju opens our comments section tonight: “Bangladesh should just stick to this squad for 1-2 years. Whatever happens just continue with this squad..This is a new era with a new culture of fast bowling in Bangladesh..Hope for the best..”
Through this tournament, we’re picking the best moments from the games with our video experts in a daily show. And if you want to actually own a piece of those moments, they are available as digital memorabilia on FanCraze, ESPNcricinfo’s digital collectible partners. On FanCraze, you can pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game.
The last time India and Bangladesh met at the T20 World Cup, this happened. Bangladesh fans, look away. But obviously, that game has been spoken about every time the two sides have met since. Here’s Mohammad Isam referring to that and how the rivalry has come to be in his preview.
The rain has so far stayed away but conditions are overcast in Adelaide. The fans are slowly beginning to fill up the stadium even as Netherlands continue to hammer one blow after another to Zimbabwe.
“Looks like a good pitch, a bit of grass, and it’s a little overcast, so the ball might swing around a little bit, so we’ll try and use that to our advantage,” Rohit says. “Very much sorted with our preparation now. It’s time to come out and enjoy ourselves.”
6.20pm What does the pitch look like? According to Michael Clarke, it’s an “absolute beauty”. A bit of green grass on top, and it’s “rock hard”. “A beautiful batting pitch once you get in, get past that new ball.” He suggests that the captain winning the toss bat first. Interesting.
Jiten Chandaran: “It looks like Ashwin is playing, so that means they have some batting at 8, which allows Shami to come in for Harshal. I expect now.”
Fiaz Laghari: “A while ago, we friends left our room to get some breakfast and everyone out here on the roads seems to be in a great rush. It’s like a storm is coming and people are rushing to some safe place, that is how the excitement level is here in Lahore for Pak-Ind clash. Everyone trying to get their things done before the match starts.”
6.15pm Virat Kohli’s just given India’s players an animated pep talk. We’re also hearing that Mohammed Shami is marking out his run-up. If he plays, it’ll be his 18th T20I. Half of them, Sampath Bandarupalli informs me, have come at World Cups. That’s quite a stat.
Adarsh: “Here’s a left-field opinion: India should have Pant open today to create a left-right combination against Shaheen Shah Afridi and hopefully mess with his lines.”
BW: “Could this be the most viewed cricinfo commentary of all time? No pressure, Karthik.”
6.05pm Monga is watching India train, and his observations tell him Rishabh Pant probably isn’t playing tonight.
“Pakistan have put up three national flags on their warm-up side of the field,” Monga adds. “India zero.” Make of this what you will.
Syed: “Dreadful weather here in my town Swindon but terrific news about the weather in Melbourne hopefully to watch a full match without interference.” — I don’t think this has any basis in science, but the more rain there is in every non-Melbourne city in the world, the less the chances of rain in Melbourne. Swindon is doing its bit for cricket!
Syed Habeeb: “What is the news about Fakhar Zaman?” — He hasn’t recovered fully from his knee issue, so he’s not available today.
5.55pm Here are two fantastic pieces on two fantastic Pakistan players: Alex Malcolm chats with the former Melbourne Stars list manager Trent Woodhill about Haris Rauf, who’ll come into tonight’s game with plenty of local knowledge of the conditions. And Danyal Rasool interviews the ebullient and thoughtful Shadab Khan, Pakistan’s Mr. T20.
If you’re in the US, you can watch the game live on ESPN+.
If any of you collect player cards, autographed bats or other memorabilia from cricket games, you may be interested in their digital versions. This World Cup, the cricket world is meeting the world of digital collectibles. ESPNcricinfo’s digital collectibles partners FanCraze are allowing fans to pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game. We’ll also have a weekly video series here on ESPNcricinfo with our experts picking our favourite moments of the week.
For the fantasy players and gamers among you, you may want to check out a game from our digital collectibles partners Fan Craze – the FanCraze Flash Nets game, where you use digital collectibles to play and earn rewards.
Mihit: “Been at MCG since last 1 hour.. what an atmosphere.. best you can ever imagine..No rain forecast till 2am, so very good chance of a full game. Bring it on.. Go India!!!”
Moazzam: “Raining in my city Oslo but gooood news from Melbourne “
Akhil: “This is probably first time after 2007 T20 WC that India are not coming into the match as favourites. Though we can’t say Pakistan are expected to win, brace yourselves for an exciting match”
5.45pm Shaheen Shah Afridi. Is back. That is all.
Saurabh: “I have three work colleagues from Pakistan here in Perth. We share and align almost on everything from food to thoughts, from wishing each other on Diwali and Eid. This is the day when we won’t align as it is India vs Pak :P”
Afeef : “Hope law of averages doesn’t catch up with Suryakumar’s good form today”
Kushal mehta: “Have slept for an hour at night, driven 500 km non stop, but never felt more energetic than today. Got my adrenaline rushing high. New Indian t20 jersey on, game on! Go India. Seek Revenge for the previous defeat!”
Sujith: “Early prediction Rauf gets Rohit, Shaheen gets Virat, Bhuvi gets Rizwan, Arshdeep gets Babar.”
5.40pm In case you haven’t noticed already, our Live Blog is up and running. And if it’s expert opinions you’re after, who better than Anil Kumble and Stephen Fleming to set things up?
Arun Heer: “Welcome to a clash which is not less than a festival in these two nations playing each other! We’re more than 100 members of ‘Langley Lions’, a cricket team of local players in British Columbia, CANADA, all awake to to watch at 1 AM local time. God will change plans and postpone rain as he has to watch this clash too, agreed??”
Mustafa Moudi : “Last 4 results between these 2 sides in T20I (Oldest first) – India Won (T20 WC ’16), Pakistan Won (T20 WC ’21), India Won (Asia Cup ’22 Group Stage) and Pakistan Won (Asia Cup ’22 Super 4). Going by the pattern…. IYKWIM !!”
5.30pm Hello, hello. Welcome to ESPNcricinfo’s coverage of the latest chapter in the friendliest, most bonhomious (it’s officially a word now) rivalry in all cricket. You’ll be pleased to know that Melbourne is bathed in bright sunlight at the moment, judging by the images our correspondent Sidharth Monga is sending over. Fans in blue and green are streaming into the ‘G as we speak, having squeezed out of the traffic jam encircling the stadium. We’re an hour away from the toss, and we really cannot wait.
Siddharth: “It’s time for the greatest sporting event of the year. Can’t wait!!”
PAK vs IND T20I Series: PTV Sports Live Broadcast Pakistan vs England Match Today 2022
England won the first Twenty20 International by six wickets against Pakistan. Alex Hales’s fifty and Harry Brook’s unbeaten 42 off 25 balls propelled England to victory in their chase of 159. Previously, in a four-over stint, Luke Wood had three wickets and allowed only 24 runs.
Pakistan won the second game by 10 wickets thanks to an unbroken century from Babar Azam and a 203-run partnership between Azam and Mohammad Rizwan (88 not out). On Friday, England’s all-around performance paid off with a victory after Pakistan’s attempt to score 222 runs was unsuccessful by 63 runs.
Since 2022 will host the Twenty20 World Cup, every game will be vital. Twenty of England’s best players have made the trip to Pakistan. The Babar Azam-led team, on the other hand, maybe missing bowler Shaheen Afridi, but they still have some formidable players.
That’s why they’d want to make the most of their current situation at home. England has swept their last three Twenty20 Internationals against Pakistan. Twenty-four contests have been played between the two squads. To date, Pakistan has a 7-15 record.
PAK vs IND Live PTV Sports 2022:
The fourth T20 Match between Pakistan and England will be played at National Stadium Karachi at 7:00 PM. The live coverage of the PAK vs IND T20 Series will be available on PTV Sports and Ten Sports.