2019 Cricket World Cup Betting: Bangladesh vs India

India missed out on a chance to book a place in the semifinals of the 2019 Cricket World Cup as they came up short against England on Sunday. Virat Kohli’s men were criticized for a tame run chase but 338 was a stiff target and there shouldn’t be too many concerns over a loss to the pre-tournament favorites.

Kohli and his side stay in Edgbaston where Bangladesh is next up so can we expect a more convincing performance on Tuesday?

Match Odds

India is the runaway leader in the result betting and can currently be backed at odds of -650. That leaves Bangladesh out at +450 and the sportsbooks look to have got this right.

Mashrafe Mortaza’s men have so far beaten South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan but they’re coming up short against the stronger teams. Can we expect that pattern to continue or is this the time for the outsiders to cause an upset?

Key Battles

There were a number of takeaways from that defeat to England and Indian fans might just be concerned about KL Rahul. We felt that Shikhar Dhawan’s absence may hurt the side moving forward and Rahul struggled on Sunday before being dismissed for a nine-ball duck.

The opener had picked up an injury in the field but does India have any options in terms of a replacement? Vijay Shankar was supposedly ruled out with a niggle of his own as Rishabh Pant came in at number four. Dinesh Karthik also waits patiently on the sidelines but India doesn’t seem to have a natural opener to step in.

Moving over to Bangladesh and there’s no doubt that the key wicket is that of Shakib Al Hasan. He’s scored 476 runs at this tournament, averaging 95.20, and India has to get him early. We don’t know what to expect from this Edgbaston pitch and although Virat Kohli criticized the dimensions, the issue for India was a flat surface that negated the spin threat.

In the previous game between Pakistan and New Zealand, the ball was turning square and the slow men were far more effective. If it’s a helpful pitch for Yuzvendra Chahal and Kedar Jadhav, Bangladesh will be in trouble. We’re not forgetting Jasprit Bumrah, whose death bowling was the one big positive to come from India’s defeat against England.

Verdict

Much will depend on that pitch and also on the toss. We would favor the side that takes first knock and looks to get a big 300-350 score on the board but if pushed to name a Sportsbook ahead of the coin flip, we would have to side with India.

Virat Kohli’s men were strangely subdued against England and are in need of an instant return to form. They may also need to look at their batting order and decide whether to keep faith in KL Rahul or make a change at the top of the order.

It may well be closer than the market suggests but we’ll stay with the favorites and back India to deliver a big response to Sunday’s defeat.