Having outplayed Pakistan, a confident India will look to continue their unbeaten run when they take on Bangladesh in the Asia Cup Super Fours match in Dubai on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
India have been firing on all cylinders both with bat and ball, having won all four matches in the Asia Cup so far, including two victories against Pakistan.
But India will be wary of not underestimating Bangladesh, who have performed strongly in the Asia Cup winning three of their four matches. They have a lot of experience in their batting line-up, including the likes of Captain Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy, while young opener Saif Hassan has been in excellent form.
In the bowling department too, Bangladesh are capable of troubling the Indian batters. Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman are seasoned campaigners while they have a lot of options in the spin department including Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Shamim Hossain and Saif Hassan.
Bangladesh's strategy will be to strike early and then put pressure on the Indian batters in the middle overs. The toss could be a crucial factor as chasing seems to be preferred option for the teams in the Asia Cup with dew also proving to be a factor.
Bangladesh's best chance is to bowl first and restrict India to around 160-170 mark and then rely on their long batting line-up to overhaul the total.
On the other hand, the in-form Indians are too strong on paper and are favourites to register another big win. They have the luxury to rest some players and still field a formidable playing XI.
India will be keen to get the job done against Bangladesh and seal their place in Sunday's final before considering resting their players. While openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill have been in great form, the middle order is yet to fire.
Abhishek is the top run-getter in the Asia Cup with 173 runs in four matches at an incredible strike rate of 208.43, while also leading the sixes charts with 12 maximums.
Gill has also adapted well to his new role as opener, relishing taking on the bowlers in the company of his Punjab team-mate Abhishek.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav fell for a duck in the previous match against Pakistan while Sanju Samson, batting in the middle order, struggled to score 13 from 17 balls.
Tilak Varma has been a vital cog in the middle order for India, with scores of 31, 39 and 30 not out in three games he has batted.
Against Pakistan on Sunday, he steadied the ship after India lost three wickets for 18 runs in the space of 15 balls.
The likes of Hardik Pandya, who has faced just eight balls in the tournament so far, Shivam Dube (15 balls) and Axar Patel (13 balls) would be keen to get a hit in the death overs against Bangladesh.
Dube did an excellent job with the ball against Pakistan, controlling things in the middle overs with figures of 2/33 in four overs.
It was a rare off day for Jasprit Bumrah who struggled with his line and length and was carted for 45 runs in his four overs. The spin twins -- Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy -- did an excellent job to choke Pakistan in the middle overs.
India's strained diplomatic relations with Bangladesh could lead to some animated clashes between the players, as has been the theme in the Asia Cup so far.
India boast of a dominant record against Bangladesh in T20 Internationals, having lost just one in 17 matches played against them. In fact, Bangladesh's last T20 victory against India came six years in Delhi in 2019.
But the slow and low pitches in the UAE do bring Bangladesh's spin-based attack into the reckoning but upsetting the Indians would require a monumental effort.
Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.
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