India will clash with Bangladesh in North Sound in Antigua on Saturday. India has dominated Bangladesh in the format and will start favourites. It will essentially be a contest between India's batters and Bangladesh's bowlers.

Rohit Sharma is expected to score big in this encounter - he has a great record against Bangladesh in T20I cricket and has smashed 454 runs in 12 innings at an average of 37.8 and strike rate of 141.4 including five fifties. No player in the world has scored more runs against Bangladesh in the format than Rohit Sharma.

LAST 5 MATCHES

INDIA - TWWWA

BANGLADESH - WWLWW

THE LIKELY PLAYING XIs FOR INDIA & BANGLADESH

India likely XI

Batters - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav

All-Rounders - Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja

Wicketkeeper - Rishabh Pant

Bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

Bangladesh likely XI

Batters – Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali

All-Rounders – Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah

Wicketkeeper – Litton Das

Bowlers – Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

Statistical Performance (India)

1. VIRAT KOHLI

The last time Virat Kohli played against Bangladesh in a T20 World Cup match, he scored a fifty and was adjudged the Player of the Match. That was in Adelaide in 2022.

VIRAT KOHLI IN T20 WORLD CUPS

2. JASPRIT BUMRAH

Jasprit Bumrah is an all-time great in white-ball cricket. He was the Player of the Match against Pakistan and Ireland.

JASPRIT BUMRAH IN 2024 T20 WORLD CUP

Players who can make a Difference (India)

1. Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav did not have a great IPL season but is still rated amongst the best T20I batters in the world. SKY has the highest strike rate in the format's history - a staggering 168 - and has already hammered four hundreds and 18 fifties in just 60 innings. SKY is a 360-degrees batter whose unconventional stroke-play might just be the game-changer again on Thursday. SKY has a strike rate of 182 against pace in T20I cricket!

2. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant's unorthodox stroke-play makes him a match-winner against any opposition. He has been in fine form in the tournament scoring 96 runs in three innings in difficult batting conditions. Pant's ability to get the boundaries behind square makes him a dangerous batter especially if he is batting in the Top 3.

Statistical Performance (Bangladesh)

1. Towhid Hridoy

Towhid Hridoy looked in fine touch against Sri Lanka and South Africa and can be explosive in the middle overs.

TOWHID HRIDOY IN 2024 T20 WORLD CUP

2. TANZIM HASAN SAKIB

Tanzim Hasan Sakib has been one of the successful bowlers for Bangladesh and has taken nine wickets so far in this T20 World Cup. He returned with 4/7 against Nepal.

TANZIM HASAN SAKIB IN 2024 T20 WORLD CUP

Players who can make a Difference (Bangladesh)

1. Mustafizur Rahman

Fizz is a veteran of 100 matches in which he has picked 127 wickets at a strike rate of 16.9. He could be lethal with the new ball.

2. Mahmudullah

The experience of Mahmudullah will be very crucial for Bangladesh against India. Mahmudullah is the crisis man for Bangladesh and has produced many innings under pressure for them.

Team Head to Head

India and Bangladesh have faced each other 13 times in T20I cricket. India has dominated the rivalry with 12 wins. The record stands 4-0 in favour of India in the World Cups. Their last T20 World Cup encounter was in Adelaide in 2022 where Kohli was the Player of the Match.

INDIA v BANGLADESH - HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

MATCHES INDIA WON BANGLADESH WON NO RESULT

T20 WORLD CUPS 4 4 0 0

LAST 5 T20Is 5 4 1 0

ALL T20Is 13 12 1 0

Player Head to Head

1. ROHIT SHARMA vs MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN IN T20Is

INNINGS - 6

BALLS FACED - 41

RUNS SCORED - 69

WICKETS - 2

2. VIRAT KOHLI vs SHAKIB AL HASAN IN T20Is

INNINGS - 4

BALLS FACED - 31

RUNS SCORED - 27

WICKETS - 0

3. SHAKIB AL HASAN vs RAVINDRA JADEJA IN T20s

INNINGS - 10

BALLS FACED - 43

RUNS SCORED - 61

WICKETS - 2

Venue and Pitch

The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound in Antigua has hosted five matches in this World Cup with the team chasing coming out victorious in three of these. The captain who has won the toss has opted to field first on 4 occasions. South Africa defended 194 against the USA in the last encounter at Antigua. The probability of winning the match after winning the toss is 40%. The average score batting first is 117/7 while the average score batting second is 107/3.

The pitch in North Sound will assist both seamers and spinners. The highest score at the venue in this tournament is 194. The mean temperature expected on Saturday will be around 28 degrees and there is 20% chance of rain.

Match Prediction

India will start favourites against Bangladesh in Antigua as they have a stronger batting and bowling unit. The battle between Mustafizur Rahman and the Indian openers - Rohit and Kohli - will be vital. If Bangladesh want to compete with India then their spinners will have to strike in the middle overs. Based on the relative strength of both sides, India start with a 70% chance of victory.

Fantasy XI

And finally, this is our Fantasy XI for the India vs Bangladesh encounter. We have 8 players from India and 3 from Bangladesh. Rohit and Kohli will open the innings while SKY, Shakib, Mahmudullah and Pant will comprise the middle order. Bumrah and FIZZ will share the new ball while the middle overs will be controlled by Jadeja and Shakib. Arshdeep will be the specialist at the death. Hardik Pandya is our captain while Shakib is our vice-captain.

Our backup players include Towhid Hridoy as batter, Mohammed Siraj as bowler and Axar Patel as all-rounder.

Fantasy XI

Wicketkeeper: RISHABH PANT

Batters: VIRAT KOHLI, ROHIT SHARMA, SURYAKUMAR YADAV, MAHMUDULLAH

All-rounders: HARDIK PANDYA (C), RAVINDRA JADEJA, SHAKIB AL HASAN (VC)

Bowlers: JASPRIT BUMRAH, ARSHDEEP SINGH, MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER - TOWHID HRIDOY

BOWLER - MOHAMMED SIRAJ

ALL-ROUNDER - AXAR PATEL

Note: All stats updated till end of Match 42 - WI vs ENG