What India need to do to win ODI series against Bangladesh

After a losing the 3-match ODI series against New Zealand 1-0, Indian cricket team will play another 3-match ODI series and 2 Tests against Bangladesh from December 4.Senior players like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj will play in the ODI series. Also, Rahul Tripathi, the right-handed batter might make his ODI debut against the Bangladesh team. 

India has a very good record against Bangladesh in the ODIs as the Men in Blue have won 30 out of 36 games they have played against their neighbours so far. Bangladesh have won 5 games and one match ended without a result. The Bangladeshi side has never been able to put up a comprehensive fight against the Indian team. 

But the Indian team is also low on morale after a disappointing exit from the T20 World Cup and now an ODI series loss against New Zealand. Indian team's bowling remains a big concern. Even against the New Zealand side, bowling proved out to be a big minus for India.

The Rohit Sharma-led team would also like to test some new players as this is a crucial series ahead of the 50-over World Cup next year.

Here are  the four things Indian team needs to do to win against Bangladesh:

1. Play Ishan Kishan in place of Rishabh Pant: Rishabh Pant has failed to deliver with the bat in the past few matches and the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter has also been a bone of contention for the Indian team. He was also promoted up the order in the New Zealand series but could hardly make any difference. 

Ishan Kishan, in his place would be an apt replacement. Kishan is a fine wicketkeeper and has played 9 ODI games for India scoring 267 runs at an average of 33.37. As an opener, Kishan is destructive as we have already seen his hitting prowess while he played in IPL for Mumbai Indians. Indian team needs to experiment with  the top order as the Rohit Sharma-KL Rahul pair failed to deliver in the T20 World Cup.

2. Shreyas Iyer and Rahul Tripathi need to be given a place in the team: Since Suryakumar Yadav is not in the squad, Shreyas Iyer is the perfect batter for the number four position. In the first ODI against New Zealand, Iyer played a fine knock of 80 off 76 balls. Iyer was a standby player in the T20 World Cup and couldn't play any match. He was also not included in the side in the Asia Cup and the South Africa series. It's high time he gets some matches.

Secondly, Rahul Tripathi needs to be included in the team as he was to make his debut against Zimbabwe but he didn't feature in any of the matches. The 31-year-old right-handed batter is a good hitter of the ball and he had a decent outing in the IPL also. Tripathi and Iyer can give strength to the team's middle order.

3. KL Rahul can be rested: Secondly, KL Rahul can be rested as he also has had a rough patch in the last few matches. In ODIs, he has an average of 33.3. Rahul has been struggling with his form for quite some time which also attracted a lot of criticism from his fans. Especially after the semi-final against England in the T20 World Cup, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma's slow batting in the first six overs was heavily criticised. 

So, for the Bangladesh ODI series, KL Rahul can be dropped.

4. An aggressive batting approach: Another lesson learnt from the New Zealand ODI debacle was that the batting side needs to adopt an aggressive approach while scoring runs. For example, India posted a good total of 306 against New Zealand but the Kiwis easily chased it down in 46 overs. 

With the advent of T20 cricket, batters have become more fierce and they tend to get off the mark quickly. Earlier a score between 270 and 280 was considered decent but with the advancement of the game, teams batting first need to put up a at least 330 runs on the board to give their bowlers a strong total to defend.

The first two ODIs will be played at Sher-e-Bangla stadium while the final will be played at Chittagong in Dhaka.