Picture Credit: ICC
Although the Indian Premier League might have come to an end, the T20 season is far from over. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup campaign gets underway from October 17. There are two Round 1 matches scheduled on Sunday with Bangladesh vs Scotland scheduled at evening time. Both the teams would want to get their campaign off to a winning start and proceed to qualify for the Super 12 stage. Ahead of this match at Al Amerat Cricket Ground Oman Cricket (Ministry Turf 1), Oman, let us try and look at which team has the upper hand heading into this game based on the following factors:
1. Head-to-head record
As far as the overall head-to-head record is concerned, the two teams came across only once in T20 cricket and rather surprisingly it was Scotland who had emerged victorious on that occasion.
However, that stat may not tell the entire story which is when we come to the next parameter.
2. Recent form
Bangladesh have been in great form in recent times. Since losing to New Zealand in March away from home, Bangladesh have series wins against Zimbabwe (2-1), Australia (4-1) and New Zealand (3-2) to their credit. Having long shed the minnows tag, the Bangla Tigers are the favourites to top the group stage of Round 1 and reach the Super 12.
While Scotland too registered a win over Namibia in the warm-up fixture, they have less experience of playing top teams which could work against them in a work at the biggest stage.
3. ICC Rankings
Bangladesh are currently ranked sixth in the ICC Men's T20I team ratings. Meanwhile, Scotland are ranked 14th.
Based on the abovementioned parameters, the team of the day is Bangladesh.
