Team India is all set to face Bangladesh in a warm-up game at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Saturday ahead of the start of their T20 World Cup campaign. And despite it being merely a practice match, it will hold great importance to the Indian side, as it will be their only opportunity to work on their final playing XI for the tournament. India last played an international match in January earlier this year, in the home series against Afghanistan, before the players dispersed for their respective campaigns in the IPL 2024, which only ended on May 26.

India did have two intense training days of three hours long on Wednesday and Thursday, where the focus was majorly on tail-end batting and all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube having their lengthy bowling drills. India also kept an optional session on Friday, which was only attended by a select few.

Ahead of the warm-up match against Bangladesh for the T20 World Cup, we take a look at what to expect from India, in terms of their strategy for the ICC tournament...

Will Virat Kohli play? With the former India captain only joining the Indian squad on late Friday night, given that he had reportedly extended his period of break after IPL 2024, Kohli is less likely to feature in the warm-up game against Bangladesh. Having travelled for 16 hours to reach the 'Big Apple', Kohli's participation will depend on how he feels on Saturday.

It won't be of any big concern even if Kohli skips the match, given that the 35-year-old heads to the T20 World Cup after scoring 741 runs in 15 matches in IPL 2024, thus ending up with the Orange Cap.

However, if he does opt to play against Bangladesh, it will be worth seeing where India opt to feature him in the line-up amid debates and discussions over his batting position. While many feel he should open alongside Rohit, thus leaving Yashasvi Jaiswal out, most others want a right-left combination at the top of the order with suggestions being either Kohli and Jaiswal or the youngster with the captain.

Pitch assessment: It is in New York where India will play three of their first four league games in the tournament, and the warm-up game against Bangladesh will give the side a perfect chance to assess what to expect from the pitch and the kind of line-up they can feature when their campaign begins from June 5 onwards.

According to a report in Cricbuzz on Friday, there were apprehensions in the team after a few deliveries from Kuldeep Yadav kept low during one of India's practice sessions in Cantiague Park in New York. However, Dravid and Rohit, who later went to inspect the pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, reckoned it as "normal and good," likely to favour the batters.

Hardik Pandya's form and Shivam Dube's role: Following a forgettable IPL 2024 season, both as a player and captain of Mumbai Indians, Hardik spent a considerable amount of time in the batting nets on both the practice days, under the watchful eye of batting coach Vikram Rathour. He also had an intense bowling session of nearly 40 minutes on Wednesday. The Bangladesh match will surely given an indication of Hardik's form and his role in the batting line-up.

It will also hint towards whether India can fit Dube in the line-up and whether he will get a role as a bowler. Having missed bowling opportunities in IPL 2024 owing to Impact Player rule, Dube rolled his arms in the nets with Rohit turning as a mentor.

Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson: Despite Samson emerging as the leading run-getter among wicketkeepers in IPL 2024, Pant is likely to be preferred as the primary wicketkeeping option given his left-handedness and ability to function down the middle-order line-up as well.

Bowling combination: The assessment of the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium pitch will likely hint towards the kind of bowling attack India would want to pick against Ireland, Pakistan and co-hosts USA. Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are a surety, with Hardik as the back-up pace bowler. Now would they want an extra pacer on Mohammed Siraj or Arshdeep Singh, or an extra spinner in Axar Patel or Yuzvendra Chahal?

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