3 player battles to watch out for in India vs Bangladesh match of 2023 World Cup ft. Virat Kohli v Shakib Al Hasan

After thrashing Pakistan in Ahmedabad, Team India have arrived in Pune high on confidence ahead of their next 2023 World Cup game against Bangladesh at the MCA Stadium on Thursday, October 19.

While the Men in Blue arguably look favorites on paper, history shows that Bangladesh have often hurt the hosts, especially in the ODI format. They have won three out of their last four ODIs against India, including a thrilling win in the Asia Cup Super Fours fixture last month.

Although India had played a weaker team on paper in that game, a win is a win and Bangladesh will come into the encounter with a sense of belief that if they can get their match-ups right, they could produce a special performance.

On that note, let's take a look at three intriguing match-ups ahead of an interesting encounter in Pune:

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#3 Shakib Al Hasan vs Kuldeep Yadav

Arguably the best player Bangladesh have produced in their cricketing history, captain Shakib Al Hasan is the fulcrum of the middle order and might need to face a bulk of India's spin attack in Pune.

This makes his match-up with Kuldeep Yadav a crucial one in the context of the game. Kuldeep has been on song in ODIs this year and has brought that form with him into the 2023 World Cup. He has conceded nine runs off 12 deliveries to Shakib in ODIs and has also dismissed the veteran southpaw once.

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#2 Rohit Sharma vs Mustafizur Rahman

Rohit Sharma started the 2023 World Cup with a duck, but his last two knocks have been sensational. The Indian captain seems to have made up his mind to go hard at the top and break the back of bowling attacks in the powerplay itself.

This makes it imperative for Bangladesh to strike early and they will want left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman to do the job. Rohit has scored as many as 129 runs off Mustafizur in just 122 balls faced in ODIs. However, he has also been dismissed thrice and that means that it is a contest where both players would fancy their chances.

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#1 Virat Kohli vs Shakib Al Hasan

Arguably the blockbuster match-up of the India vs Bangladesh game is between star batter Virat Kohli and Shakib. The left-arm spinner has tasted great success against Kohli in ODIs, dismissing him a staggering five times.

However, Kohli has also done well against Shakib on his day, scoring 140 runs off 148 deliveries faced in the format. His woes against the left-arm spin of late have certainly not gone unnoticed. However, one expects a champion player like Virat Kohli to try and figure out a way to not just counter Shakib but also dominate him.