Bangladesh A team now on a tour to India starts  three matches ODI series tomorrow in Bangalore. Given the strength of two sides and recent successes of Bangladesh team in ODI Bangladesh A starts as firm favorites in the series . But it is a game of cricket and especially in ODI cricket or otherwise a gamble  a team wins some loses some . So nothing can be guaranteed till the series is over.

Bangladesh A squad: Anamul Haque, Rony Talukdar, Liton Das, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque (capt), Nasir Hossain, Saqlain Sajib, Arafat Sunny, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shuvagata Hom, Jubair Hossain.

India One-day squad: Unmukt Chand (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Karn Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, S Aravind, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rush Kalaria, Gurkeerat Singh Mann
First match of a three matches series is very important. Bangladesh has to adjust with new wicket, new environment and playing in front of foreign crowd. A winning start will create confidence for wrapping the series. Bangladesh team has 14 out of 15 players who represented Bangladesh in any format in international cricket. There are few keys players which played major roles for Bangladesh in its recent successes at international level against major oppositions. But selecting the right team will be extremely important.

Given the form and fitness of the Bangladesh players and inconsideration of the strength of opposition would suggest the following playing XI for the first ODI.

Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque (capt), Liton Das, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Subhagato Hom ,Arafat Sunny, Rubel Hossain,  Taskin Ahmed, Jubair Hossain.

Anamul Huq and Soumya Sarkar will make the perfect opening partnership .Both are aggressive stroke makers and can give flying start. If they do Bangladesh will be well on their way for a huge score. Soumya was in peak form but Anamul will make fresh start after a while. Mominul at number three can give stabilizing impact with his calm composure and solid technique. Liton,Sabbir, Nasir and Shubhagato can exploit good early start into a winning score. Seven batsmen and four bowlers will give right balance. Rubel and Taskin with raw pace may make early inroads into opposition batting. Arafat Sunny and Jubair Hossain are both class of their own. Subhagato ,Nasir and Sabbir can share the fifth bowling option. There may be thoughts about playing three pacers.  But in that case a batsman may have to leave out .We think the team is a bit thin in middle order batting. Hence an additional batting cover is felt essential. Some thoughts may be there to play Saqlain Sajib instead of Jubair. But Jubair is an attacking option and may be preferred. There can be talks about playing Rony Talukdar in top order instead of playing Shubhagato as all-rounder .But Shubhagato has more experience and that will prove useful.

If Bangladesh A team plays to its potential, there is no reason why Bangladesh cannot win the ODI series. Several players in the team are keen to prove their potential either for consolidating their position in the team or making comeback. Hence there will no lack of all-out efforts.

BDST: 2011 HRS, SEP 15, 2015
AKA