Confident India ‘A’ eye series win against Bangladesh ‘A’ in the 2nd one-dayer

Bengaluru: Having outplayed Bangladesh A in all the departments in the first unofficial One-Day International (ODI), an upbeat India A will be looking to keep the winning momentum going and clinch the three-match series in the second game itself here tomorrow. The Unmukt Chand-led side thrashed the visitors by 96 runs in the opening match courtesy a brilliant all-round show by Gurkeerat Singh Mann (65 runs and five-wicket haul). The hosts’ top-order though would be looking to make amends after faltering in the first game as the middle and lower it was, which helped the team amass 322 while batting first. READ: India ‘A’ vs Bangladesh ‘A’ 2nd one-dayer, Preview: Visitors need to pull up their socks

Senior batsman Suresh Raina, who is taking this series as a tune-up for the big battle against South Africa, would be hoping to get some runs under his belt after getting just 16 on Wednesday. Even Chand (16), Manish Pandey (1) and Kedar Jadhav (0) will be looking to pull up their socks come the second match. READ: Bangladesh A tour of India, perfect warm-up ahead of Australia series
Jadhav and Pandey are in the 30-member probables list announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the upcoming South Africa series and would be looking to put up their case with a better showing. The Rahul Dravid-coached side also saw a remarkable performance from wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, who top-scored with 73 — a reassuring knock in the middle-order after the top-order failed to click, barring opener Mayank Agarwal’s 56. READ: Taskin Ahmed ruled out of Bangladesh A tour of India
On the bowling front, India A made it count and left-armer Sreenath Aravind (3 for 29), medium-pacer Rishi Dhawan (2 for 51) and Gurkeerat (5 for 29) were also quite a handful against a brittle Bangladesh batting. Local lad Aravind’s knowledge of the Chinnaswamy track will certainly help him to keep up the good work. READ: Gurkeerat admits to thriving in pressure cooker-like situations
Though it was not all dark for the Mominul Haque-led side, which saw a few positives on the batting front with wicketkeeper-batsman Litton Das top-scoring with a defiant 75. Nasir Hussain (52) and Sabbir Rahman (25) also contributed but the rest of the batting will certainly have to do some re-shaping if they want to get even with the hosts. With most of the Bangladesh A squad comprising international stars, the series is a matter of prestige for the visitors and they would certainly be looking to atleast stretch it to the final game.
Many of the Bangladesh A players, who would be treating this series as a tune-up for the upcoming Australia rubber, will be looking for resurrection in the second game. Bangladesh cricket saw a classic revival after the national seniors beat Pakistan, India and then South Africa on home soil to prove their resurgence in the limited-overs format.
Many of the stars who were part of those wins are in the ‘A’ squad and certainly eyeing to maintain their winning run. The first loss notwithstanding, Bangladesh A would certainly be looking to get even with India A in the second game and make the series an interesting affair.