India opt to bat against Bangladesh in #CricketWorldCup

India's KL Rahul in action during a #CWC19 warm-up match. Photo: Reuters/Peter Cziborra

India's KL Rahul in action during a #CWC19 warm-up match. Photo: Reuters/Peter Cziborra

Published Jul 2, 2019

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BIRMINGHAM – Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bat first against Bangladesh in Birmingham on Tuesday as India look to seal a World Cup semi-final spot.

The two-time champions made two changes to the team that lost to hosts England at Edgbaston on Sunday.

Batsman Dinesh Karthik and fit-again paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the cut in place of Kedar Jadhav and Kuldeep Yadav, with India needing to win one of their remaining two group matches to guarantee a place in the last four.

Kohli, who has hit five successive half-centuries in the World Cup, said getting runs on the board was ideal on a used wicket - it is the same pitch England and India played on on Sunday.

“It's a used wicket, last game it was getting slower and slower in the second half and we think it is going to deteriorate, so it will be good to get runs on the board,” Kohli said at the toss. “I'm really enjoying batting at the moment. It's not about milestones, it's about contributing to the team.”

Bangladesh also made two changes, with Rubel Hossain coming in for Mehidy Hasan while Mahmudullah failed a fitness test on his calf tear and was replaced by Sabbir Rahman.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza admitted he would also have batted first had he won the toss in a must-win game for his side.

To retain any chance of qualifying from the 10-team group phase Bangladesh need to win both of their final fixtures, against India and Pakistan, and hope results elsewhere go in their favour.

“I would have batted first but against them it's not a bad idea to chase.” said Mashrafe. “We have to win this match, it's do or die.”

India's captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first on Tuesday. Photo: AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi

The teams for Edgbaston are:

India:

Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah: 

Bangladesh:

Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Liton Das, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

Umpires: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI), Marais Erasmus (RSA)

TV umpire: Aleem Dar (PAK)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

Agence France-Presse (AFP)

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