Will Bangladesh pose a bigger challenge to India than Pakistan?

India are eying passage to the final of the Asia Cup as they face Bangladesh in Dubai on Wednesday, an opposition they have lost a solitary T20I to dating back to 2009. India are 8-0 since against Bangladesh that loss in New Delhi six years ago, and under Suryakumar Yadav they have a 21-4 record from 25 completed matches.

Their most recent win was a six-wicket success over Pakistan also in Dubai, in which a couple worries simmered to the surface. India put down three catches in the first 10 overs of the match, and five overall, and Jasprit Bumrah conceded the most runs he ever has inside the Powerplay. Against Bangladesh, a team with smart spinners capable of applying the squeeze, India will have to erase such blemishes.

The batting rests largely on Abhishek Sharma. Ranked No 1 in T20Is, the 25-year-old leads the run table in the tournament with 173 at an average of 43.25 and a strike-rate of 208.43, and his 12 sixes so far are comfortably the best. Abhishek knows one way to hit the cricket ball, and thus for Bangladesh getting him out as quick as possible will be massive in their plans of an upset victory.

Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav each have one clutch innings in the tournament and would fancy getting fifties ahead of the Sri Lanka game, and then foreseeably the final. Tilak Varma has shown signs of getting bogged down against spin, which is an area Bangladesh could look to expose further. 

If India’s bowlers have another average day – with due respect to Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav who conceded 56 runs off their combined eight overs – there is scope for Bangladesh’s batting to do some damage. This team has over the past 15-odd months made a concerted effort to up their scoring rates, and the results have shown. 

Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy and Litton Das each have fifties in this Asia Cup, while Jaker Ali and Shamim Hossain have played handy cameos in the lower middle order. With the ball, taking pace off has been the key for Bangladesh and it doesn’t look like anything different will happen in Dubai. 

In 2025, Bangladesh have won bilateral series over Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Pakistan – apart from against Associate nations – and in this Asia Cup they’ve put one past Afghanistan and Sri Lanka each. On paper, they post a bigger threat to India than Pakistan, about whom Suryakumar was dismissive when asked about the rivalry the two nations share. 

The two teams have met twice in the Asia Cup when it has been played in the T20I format, with India beating Bangladesh on both occasions.