Gwalior takes centre stage as youthful India prepare for experienced Bangladesh

PreviewHarshit Rana or Mayank Yadav is likely to make his international debut for India

Big picture: T20 world champions return home

A T20I series in the middle of a Test season can be a hard sell but both India and Bangladesh will have their own priorities in the three-match series starting in Gwalior on Sunday. While India have rested their key players – and will additionally be without Shivam Dube who was ruled out with injury on Saturday* – the ones on the fringes will look to establish themselves as back-ups and will also be keen to increase their IPL value.

Suryakumar Yadav leads a side that’s less experienced than Bangladesh in T20Is, but his players are more skilled and versatile than Bangladesh’s in the format. Suryakumar, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh are among the experienced players in India’s side, but even the ones with less than ten T20I caps are stars. Newcomers Mayank Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana are the uncapped players, while Abhishek Sharma, who made his debut against Zimbabwe in July, has a chance to add to his five T20I caps.

The home side are also without most of their first-choice fast bowlers, which could open up debuts for Mayank Yadav, who hit 150kph for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, and Harshit, who won IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders. Hardik offers them seam-bowling support while Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi and the returning Varun Chakravarthy make up the spin group.

As for Bangladesh, who don’t play enough T20Is, this is a huge opportunity. From developing their game against a strong opposition, to having an outside chance of being picked in the IPL, there will be excitement in the visitors’ camp.

The likes of Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan, all of whom have at least fifty T20Is under their belt, have to put their act together if Bangladesh are to beat India. Even relative newcomers like Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishad Hossain and Tanzid Hasan have growing reputations. All of this is vital when they know who is no longer in their line-up.

Shakib Al Hasan, who is arguably Bangladesh’s greatest cricketer, has announced his retirement from Tests and T20Is.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five T20Is, most recent first)

BangladeshLLLWW

In the spotlight: Sanju Samson and Rishad Hossain

With India having picked just one opener in Abhishek, Sanju Samson will be pushed up to the top to partner Abhishek – Suryakumar confirmed as much on match eve. Samson has ducks in his last two T20I knocks, against Sri Lanka, but it will be his IPL form from earlier this year, that will give him and the team management the confidence going into this series. Samson scored 531 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 153.46 in IPL 2024, once again underlining his ability in the format, something that he would like to bring into his international game quickly.

Legspinner Rishad Hossain finished the T20 World Cup earlier this year with 14 wickets, level with Rashid Khan, at an average of 13.85 and economy rate of 7.76. He emerged as Bangladesh’s top wicket-taker in the tournament has now comes the second act: impressing IPL scouts in India. It will be tough to back up such a strong performance and even in the past many Bangladesh players have struggled to build on early success. Rishad has played just one competitive game since the 2024 T20 World Cup but has since been training in Dhaka to get up to speed.

Team news: Mayank Yadav or Harshit Rana could be in line for debut

India have a new-look top order and seam attack as a number of regulars are missing from their T20I squad. They have brought in Tilak Varma for the injured Dube, but it’s likely Nitish Kumar Reddy will slot into his place in the XI. Tearaway Mayank didn’t train much in the lead up to the series opener which could mean a debut for Harshit on Sunday.

India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Harshit Rana/Mayank Yadav, 11 Arshdeep Singh

Mehidy Hasan Miraz returns to the Bangladesh T20I side to play as a batting allrounder. Parvez Hossain Emon could be picked ahead of Tanzid Hasan.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Litton Das (wk), 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Tanzid Hasan, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 5 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 6 Towhid Hridoy, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Pitch and conditions: Good weather on Sunday evening

The pitch is bit of an unknown, given this will be the first international at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, where there is extra security measures in place given some calls for a boycott.

Teams batting first in night games in the last 12 months in India have averaged in excess of 190 runs, with four out of the eight teams scoring 200-plus batting first.

The weather is likely to be slightly cooler than the usual daytime heat on Sunday evening.

Stats and Trivia

This is the first international match at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, which is located 12km to the west of Gwalior city. The last match held in the region was in February 2010 when Sachin Tendulkar struck the first double-hundred in ODIs, at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium.
Bangladesh (644 caps) have a more experienced T20I squad than India (389 caps) in this series.
At 37 years and 180 days, Shakib recently became Bangladesh’s oldest Test cricketer. Mahmudullah, part of this T20 squad, is second oldest in all formats for Bangladesh, now playing at the age of 38. Overall, Jahangir Shah is Bangladesh’s oldest international cricketer who played an ODI against New Zealand at the age of 41.Quote

“From this series, you will see our players trying to play with a new approach. Everyone will play to win. I think the players that are here [for the series], and four or five others, will be the ones playing the 2026 World Cup. So, I think from this series, our preparations will properly begin.”
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto on their early preparation for the next T20 World Cup

“It’s a good opportunity [for newcomers]. They have good potential; they have made impact for their state, their franchises. If they get a chance, I hope they would perform the same because there is no need to do anything different.”
Suryakumar Yadav on Mayank Yadav, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy

*The preview was updated when news of Dube’s injury came in.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

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