Bandladesh win toss, opt to bowl against India

Mirpur (Bangladesh), Feb 24  Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the opening match of the Asia Cup at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Wednesday.

The uncharacteristically green track and the dew factor played a role in Mortaza's decision. The hosts have included four fast bowlers in Taskin Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim.

For India, Virat Kohli has returned to the squad in place of Ajinkya Rahane. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had skipped practice on Monday after suffering back spasms, has managed to recover and will play, much to the relief of Indian fans.

The Indians come into the tournament after two back-to-back T20 series wins. They had won a series in Australia before defeating Sri Lanka at home.

The teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni(captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah.

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza(captain), Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Al-Amin Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed