Rain threatens third India-Bangladesh ODI
May 14, 2007 - 2:50:28 PM
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TV umpire: A.F.M. Akharuddin -
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By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS,
[RxPG] Chittagong, May 14 - Rain is threatening to mar the third India-Bangladesh One-day International here Tuesday. Though India have wrested the series 2-0, the match is important from a few other perspectives, emotions included.
It will be the last ODI for Bangladesh coach Whatmore, while for captain Habibul Bashar it will be his final one-dayer at home.
From India's perspective, the match could see either left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh or batsman Robin Uthappa, or both, playing their first match of the series. Captain Rahul Dravid said Monday that both have been included in the XII, leaving out pacers Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan.
Both Singh and Uthppa would be keen to prove that they are good enough to play in the XI.
Sreesanth, who has a calf strain, is still not fit to play. 'We are monitoring him. He will not recover for tomorrow's match,' Dravid told reporters here after the team's nets, held indoor due to soggy ground conditions.
On Zaheer, he said the left-arm pacer is being rested to have him ready for the two-match Test series that will follow the ODIs.
Bangladesh will miss their vice-captain and batting mainstay Mohammad Ashraful, who was admitted to a hospital in Dhaka with high fever Saturday.
Captain Bashar confirmed Monday that Bangladesh would indeed miss the services of Ashraful in a match that still has significance for the home side.
Fans here say that if Bangladesh register a win on Tuesday the people would forget the defeats in the first two matches.
On India's previous tour to Bangladesh, the home team had beaten the visitors to register their maiden win over the neighbours. Millions of cricket fanatics here are eagerly waiting for a win that would quench their thirst for celebrations.
But rain may have the final say as dark clouds hung over this port city Monday. It also rained, making the outfield of the Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium so soggy that the teams were forced into indoor nets.
Strong winds lashed the stadium, preventing the ground from drying, despite the super sopper being pressed into service as well as other methods to remove water from the pitch covers and the outfield.
The match pitch, its adjoining areas and the practice pitches inside the stadium were covered. The winds also prevented the workers from erecting a temporary tent over the stands as well as the giant electronic screen.
Teams:
India: Rahul Dravid -, Gautam Gambhir, Robin
Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh
Dhoni -, Dinesh Karthick, Manoj Tiwari,
Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap
Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar and Dinesh Mongia
Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar -, Mohammad
Ashraful -, Javed Omar, Tamim Iqbal,
Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Sakibul Hasan, Mushfiqur
Rahim -, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel,
Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Rafique and
Farhad Reza
Umpires: Asoka de Silva - and Enamul Haque -
TV umpire: A.F.M. Akharuddin -
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama -
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