India v Bangladesh World Cup Tips: Time for 11/4 Gill to star

• India hot favourites

• Pune pitch a road

• Gill a bet at 11/43.75

India v Bangladesh
Thursday 18 October, 09:30
TV: Live on Sky Sports

India v Bangladesh World Cup team news

India have Shubman Gill back fit and can now claim to be at full-strength. Their only selection headache surrounds pace or spin; Shardul Thakur or Ravi Ashwin. No doubt they will have a good look at the Pune pitch and make a call based on that. We suspect Aswhin may get the nod becaue it has been a road.

Possible XI: Gill, Rohit, Kohli, Shreyas, Rahul, Hardik, Jadeja, Ashwin, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj

Bangladesh have an injury worry about Shakib-al-Hasan. Shakib hurt his thigh against New Zealand and although he has trained since, it may be worth considering that there are more important contests to come for Bangladesh. They might not make a dent in this India team. Mahedi Hasan stands by.

Possible XI: Tanzid, Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shanto, Shakib/Mahedi, Mushfiqur, Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Taskin, Mustafizur, Shoriful

India v Bangladesh World Cup pitch report

The Pune pitch has been a road in the past. In five of the seven first-innings more than 300 has been busted. India failed to defend 336 against England at the venue in 2021 so it is a pitch which holds up. India's par line in the mid 330s looks a buy if they bat first. Alternatively 310 or more may be available at 1.834/5.

India v Bangladesh World Cup match odds

India are 1.132/15 with Bangladesh 8.4015/2. The shocks stop here for now. Although we recognise that the upsets in the last few days have brought the tournament to life, this looks like a damage limitation for a poor Bangaldesh team.

We note that in the last head-to-head Bangladesh got the win but conditons were considerably more favourable.

The only option on the match odds is a trade on Bangladesh batting first on a flat one and managing to post up to 280. But we'd still expect India to chase anything.

India v Bangladesh World Cup player bets

Now we know Gill is a starter we're happy to bet the opener (30.8% win rate in the last two years) for top India bat at 11/43.75 with Sportsbook. Pairing Gill with Jasprit Bumrah for the bat-bowler double is attractive at 11/112.00. Bumrah is returning 46% of the time. Rohit Sharma has been boosted to 3/14.00 for top India bat and Virat Kohli is 11/43.75.