With the T20I series tied at 1-1, Bangladesh and India have everything to play for when they face off in the third and final match at Nagpur's Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium today (Sunday).
Slight winds and a clear sky are expected in Nagpur with absolutely no cloud cover on Sunday. The pitch in Nagpur generally tends to slow down as the game goes on and history shows teams batting first have won eight of the 11 T20Is played at the venue.
Having won their first-ever T20I against India in the opening fixture in Delhi, Bangladesh set their sights on a historic series win. They started off on a promising note in the early part of the second T20I in Rajkot surging to 59 for no loss from seven overs after being put in to bat by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma.
However, the visitors lost the momentum against the Indian spinners, particularly leg spinner Yazuvendra Chahal, and ended up with a below-par total, which India, powered by a hurricane innings of 85 off 43 balls by Rohit Sharma, had little trouble chasing down.
Ahead of the Nagpur encounter, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad said "a series win will be a big boost for Bangladesh cricket." He eyes historic maiden T20I series triumph over India.
Bangladesh will, however, fancy their chances at the Vidarbha Cricket Ground where the pitch has offered significant assistance for the slower bowlers in recent times.
The visiting team’s main concern lies in batting as their batsmen, barring Mushfiqur Rahim, have failed to convert their starts into big scores.
Openers Liton Das and Mohammad Naim got Bangladesh off to a solid start after being put in to bat in the second T20I but India roared back in the contest after Das was run out. Bangladesh were restricted to 153/6 on a batting-friendly pitch in Rajkot but Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar took firm control thereafter after Liton-Naim partnership and bowled tidy spells. Deepak Chahar also sent a tidy spell in the final overs and restricted Bangladesh batsmen.
It was Mushfiqur’s match-winning fifty in the first T20I in Delhi that gave Bangladesh an emphatic 7-wicket win in Delhi. The visitors will need to address that to challenge the strong Indian team.
Another worry for Bangladesh is the off colour of their star left-arm paceman Mustafizur Rahman who has no so far troubled Indian batsmen at all. Will he finally turn on a match-winning performance in Nagpur?
The hosts, after a resounding 8-wicket victory in Rajkot, will draw confidence from Rohit's form. In the bowling department, their spinners have performed well in both the games.
However, India still have some areas to worry about ahead of the decider. Their pacers have failed to produce a substantive impact and the team management might be tempted to draft in Shardul Thakur for Khaleel Ahmed who gave away 77 runs in the series so far getting just one wicket. Bangladesh batsmen have plundered runs of Khaleel in Delhi and Rajkot.
Shikhar Dhawan, who opens Indian batting with Rohit, has been among the runs but has not ben quite been able to score at a brisk pace. So, will the dashing left-hander come good again and produce a match-defining innings in the series decider?
Rohit underlined how important the series victory against Bangladesh will be when he said, “we want to finish well and there is a whole West Indies series coming up and not to forget the two Test matches as well. The year 2019 has been very good so far. Just want to finish it off on a good note."