3 player battles to watch out for in IND vs BAN 1st ODI

Rohit Sharma and a few other big names return to the Indian team as the Men in Blue have named an almost full-strength side for the ODI series against Bangladesh, with the first game to be played in Dhaka on Sunday.

The visitors look stronger than the hosts on paper, but the last time these two teams met in an ODI series in Bangladesh, the latter ended up winning 2-1. The Bangla Tigers are a formidable team in their own den and it could prove to be quite a challenging series for Team India.

There are some quality players on both sides and the match-up between them could well decide the flow of the game. On that note, let's take a look at three such match-ups that could determine the result of the first ODI:

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#3 Litton Das vs Washington Sundar

With Tamim Iqbal ruled out of the series due to an injury, Bangladesh have named Litton Das as their stand-in skipper. The right-hander seems to absolutely love batting against India as they tend to bring the best out of him. His quickfire half-century in the T20 World Cup gave the Men in Blue a real scare.

However, the visitors do have a match-up for this in the form of Washington Sundar. Rohit Sharma loves using match-ups and could possibly use Sundar against Das in the powerplay. Das has scored 27 runs off 24 balls that he has faced from the off-spinner, but has also been dismissed twice.

India will want to send the Bangladesh captain back early and Sundar could be the go-to bowler for them.

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#2 Rishabh Pant vs Shakib Al Hasan

As much as Rishabh Pant loves to take down left-arm spinners in Tests, they have been his nemesis when it comes to white-ball cricket. The southpaw has scored 107 runs against left-arm spinners in ODIs, but has been dismissed four times. This will bring Shakib Al Hasan into the mix for the hosts.

Shakib is a clever bowler and can tempt Pant to go for the wild slog if the duo come up against each other. The southpaw is already in woeful form and Bangladesh will want to take advantage of this to ensure that they dismiss him cheaply.

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#1 Rohit Sharma vs Mustafizur Rahman

Arguably one of the biggest contests in this game will be when Indian captain Rohit Sharma comes up against Mustafizur Rahman. The left-arm pacer will spearhead the Bangladesh bowling attack, with Taskin Ahmed unavailable for the first ODI. He has enjoyed a decent amount of success against Rohit too.

While the Indian captain has scored 114 runs from 113 deliveries from the 'Fizz' in ODIs, he has also been dismissed thrice. Both will feel that they have an upper hand on each other and this could make the battle even more intriguing.