At the renowned R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, the spotlight will be on Team India as they take on Bangladesh on September 15 (Friday) in the concluding match of the 2023 Asia Cup Super 4s. Having already secured their position in the grand finale, India is set to battle it out against Sri Lanka for the championship title.
Given that the upcoming match with Bangladesh won't impact India's standing in the tournament, there is a chance that Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper, alongside team management, might introduce several alterations to the usual playing XI. This move could provide an opportunity for other players to showcase their skills ahead of the final showdown with Sri Lanka.
Let's take a look at five Indian players who could be rested against Bangladesh:
Virat Kohli: While India would want to keep the former skipper in the playing XI, especially with the right-handed batter being in a rich vein of form, they might think of giving Suryakumar Yadav a chance to get some game time ahead of the World Cup.
Ishan Kishan: With KL Rahul finding form with the bat and looking in sublime rhythm behind the stumps, Ishan Kishan might make way for Shreyas Iyer, who hasn't featured in the last two matches for the country.
Hardik Pandya: A pivotal cog in India's XI, the fast-bowling all-arounder is likely to be rested as a workload management, especially with a jam-packed schedule for the next two months. Tilak Varma batted for a long time in the nets and might get his maiden ODI cap against Bangladesh. If not Tilak, then Shardul might return to the playing XI in place of Hardik.
Jasprit Bumrah: The premier Indian paceman might be rested for workload management purposes, especially after he twisted his ankle in follow-through during the game against Sri Lanka. Mohammed Shami is likely to replace the Indian seamer as India would want him to get game time as well.
Mohammed Siraj: India might also look to rest Siraj as they have the option of Prasidh Krishna waiting in the ranks. Krishna has not been picked in the World Cup squad but the management might be tempted to hand some game time to the right-arm lanky pacer.
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