India ‘A’ banks on all-round strength against Bangladesh

COLOMBO: After a dominant show in the league phase, India ‘A’ will be favourite to seal a spot in the final of the Emerging Asia Cup when it faces Bangladesh ‘A’ in the semifinal here on Friday. The most refreshing aspect about India’s undefeated run so far in the tournament is that it has found multiple heroes in times of need.

India will be hoping for an encore of that all-round show against a tricky and competitive opponent in Bangladesh. Pacer Harshit Rana (4/41) and captain Yash Dhull (108) were India’s star performers against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its tournament opener that it won by eight wickets. However, that role was taken over by left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu (4/14) and openers B Sai Sudarshan (58) and Abhishek Sharma (87) against Nepal. India crushed Nepal by nine wickets.

Pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who is the top wicket-taker in the tournament with eight wickets, too had chipped in with three scalps in that match. In a keenly anticipated match, India cantered home against Pakistan by 8 wickets. In this match, Manav Suthar and Nikin Jose joined Sai Sudarshan and Hangargekar as their key players. Hangargekar grabbed five wickets (5/42) and Sai Sudarshan (104) slammed a hundred to hog the headlines. But Nikin (53) and left-arm spinner Suthar (3/36) did their job to perfection. However, Bangladesh is no pushover.

After a defeat against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, Bangladesh showed presence of mind to beat Oman and Afghanistan to reach the last four stage. Bangladesh will hope that the experienced Soumya Sarkar can make an impact against India. India will also have an eye on the first semifinal in which Pakistan takes on host Sri Lanka.