The last meeting between these two teams in Bangladesh was characterised by a lack of sportsmanship. Harmanpreet Kaur was particularly vocal in her criticism of the umpires, labelling their decisions as "pathetic". The home captain, Nigar Sultana, also expressed her displeasure with Kaur's conduct. Nine months on, the focus is on the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh this September-October. India and Bangladesh will begin their preparations with a five-T20I series in Sylhet, starting Sunday.
Despite a 3-0 defeat at home by Australia a few weeks ago, Bangladesh have not changed their squad much for this series. India's last T20I series was also a 2-1 defeat at home to Australia in December-January. Several of India's international players demonstrated underwhelming performances, including Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana. Several of India's international players demonstrated improved performances in the 2024 WPL. With some new names in the mix, they will hope to carry that momentum into international cricket as well. Both teams will be keen to experiment and identify their optimal line-ups in these five T20Is before they travel to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup in July, ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.
Bangladesh must improve their batting if they wish to present a challenge to India. In the recent series against Australia, they scored totals of 126 for 4, 103 for 9 and 78 all out. Only their captain Sultana demonstrated consistency, with 96 runs in three innings, including a fifty, though at a strike rate of 91.42. The second-best batter for Bangladesh was Fahima Khatun, with 53 runs. Bangladesh made just one change to the squad that played Australia, bringing in wicketkeeper-batter Rubya Haider, who played the three T20Is against Sri Lanka last year, in place of uncapped Farzana Akter. The hosts will require the services of top-order batters such as Fargana Hoque, Sobhana Mostary and Rubya to provide a solid foundation before Sultana can take off.
The last time India toured Bangladesh in July 2023, their top three had a disappointing series. In three matches, Shafali Verma scored a total of 30, Smriti Mandhana 52, and Jemimah Rodrigues 47. Rodrigues will be unable to participate in this series due to a back injury. In terms of recent performance, both openers demonstrated excellent results in the WPL, with Shafali finishing as the third-highest run-scorer with 309 in nine matches at a strike rate of 156.85 and Mandhana just behind her with 300 in ten games at 133.92. With Richa Ghosh designated as the team's primary goalkeeper, Yastika Bhatia may be deployed as a pure batter at No. 3. She has demonstrated her batting prowess, amassing 204 runs in eight games at 121.42 as an opener for Mumbai Indians in the WPL. India is confident that their top three players are better prepared this time.
India has the potential to face a challenge in terms of talent. Legspinner S Asha and spin-bowling allrounder S Sajana have been selected for their maiden international call-ups, following years of dedication and success in the domestic circuit. Asha, 33, became the first Indian to take a five-for in the WPL, and she finished as the second-highest wicket-taker (12) of the season, playing a crucial part in Royal Challengers Bangalore's title-winning run. Sajana was one of Mumbai's breakout stars with her big-hitting ability. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav has returned to India's squad after a year, following an impressive outing for Delhi Capitals, picking up ten wickets in nine games at an economy rate of 7.48. With Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil being the first-choice spinners, the question remains as to how India will accommodate Asha, Radha, and Saika Ishaque in the XI. To accommodate Sajana in the lower-middle order, India might even have to bench Amanjot Kaur.
The last T20I series between the two sides was played entirely in Dhaka. India went in with three spinners and two seamers, with Shafali and Rodrigues chipping in with more overs of spin as part-timers. Bangladesh played a spin-heavy attack with just one seamer in Marufa Akther. This time, all five T20Is are in Sylhet, starting at 3:30 pm local time. The venue recently hosted a men's three-T20I series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in March, with an average score of 177 and four of the top five bowlers being fast bowlers. Some assistance for the seamers can be expected initially, but both teams may still rely on spinners for wickets. India has previously played two T20Is against Bangladesh at this venue. In both instances, they scored in excess of 150 and restricted the hosts to 100 or below.