IND vs BAN T20 World Cup 2022 Predicted 11: KL Rahul will continue to open, Dinesh Kartik fitness to be judged on match day, reveals coach Rahul Dravid

Head coach Rahul Dravid threw his weight behind out of form opener KL Rahul, assuring that he will remain the first-choice opener for Team India in the World Cup.

Source: Twitter

Team India opener KL Rahul is yet to post a double-figure score in the ongoing ICC men’s T20 World Cup 2022 so far. The pressure is building on Rahul after yet another failure in India’s five-wicket loss to South Africa in their last Super 12 match at Perth on Sunday (October 30). However, the beleaguered opener got a big boost ahead of India’s Super 12 match against Bangladesh in Adelaide on Wednesday (November 2).

Head coach Rahul Dravid threw his weight behind out of form opener Rahul, assuring that he will remain the first-choice opener for Team India in the World Cup. “He is fine player. KL Rahul has been battling well and these things happen in T20 cricket. We know his quality as a player. We are pretty confident of him doing well,” Dravid said in the pre-match press conference in Adelaide on Tuesday (November 1).

“Rahul is a fantastic player with a proved track record. It is not easy for a top-order batter in these conditions in Australia. But he was superb in the warm-up game before the World Cup against Australia, batting superbly against the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins,” Dravid added.

“In both, Rohit (Sharma) and my mind there is no doubt who is going to be opening for us,” the head coach felt.

This is #KingKohli's kingdom and we are just living in it! _@imVkohli | #ViratKohli | ICC Men's #T20WorldCup | #BelieveInBlue | #INDvBAN | Nov 2, 1 PM | Star Sports & Disney+Hotstar pic.twitter.com/8LF7Jv8Khr

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Another cause of concern for the Indian team ahead of the Bangladesh match has been the fitness of wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. The veteran stumper landed awkwardly while attempting a take against South Africa at Perth and went off the field. If Karthik doesn’t recover from injury, Rishabh Pant will replace him in the playing XI.

“This morning Dinesh Karthik has come to practice. We will assess his fitness tomorrow. Our belief is to back the guys,” Dravid said about Karthik.

On their opposition for the next game, Dravid said, “We respect Bangladesh as a team. We have seen enough of upsets in this World Cup to not take any team lightly. The margin of win or loss can just be a couple of hits. The conditions and the big grounds in Australia have somewhat levelled the playing field between bowlers and batters.”

India’s Predicted Playing 11 vs Bangladesh for Super 12 Group 2 match of T20 World Cup 2022

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik/Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin/Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh