Shoriful Islam to Nissanka, 1 run, to backward square leg

Nissanka and Kusal Perera are at the crease. Nissanka is on strike. Shoriful Islam will open the attack

Nissanka and Kusal Perera are at the crease. Nissanka is on strike. Shoriful Islam will open the attack

The players make their way out to the middle. Time for the National Anthems.

Sri Lanka win the toss and opt to bat. Looks like a good batting surface. Refer to our Fantasy Handbook before locking in your teams.

Teams:

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Towhid Hridoy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam

Kusal Mendis: Looks like a good wicket, I don't mind batting first. We want to put up a good score on this pitch, I think 300 plus would be good. We have two changes.

Bangladesh have won the toss and have opted to field

Shakib Al Hasan: We would field first,

Bangladesh have won the toss and have opted to field

Pitch Report: When you look at the weather for today, it’s promising, high of 30 and low of 17. There’s a breeze blowing across and humidity is 40 percent, so good conditions for playing cricket. 63 square boundaries on both sides, and 72m straight down the ground. The grass has been cut, it’s live grass and it’s very low. I’m assuming the ball will continue to come onto the bat nicely. Faster bowlers have to hit the ball nto the surface. There might be a bit of swing on offer with the new ball. There won’t be much spin. Win the toss and bat first, reckon Sanjay Manjrekar and Ian Bishop.

Our correspondent, Gokul Gopal, pings from the venue: Greetings from the world's most polluted city. Visibility wise, it looks much better compared to the previous two days, with the sun out. But the air quality index is still in the severe category.

There is one thing which will act as a fuel for both sides – the possibility of directly qualifying for the 2025 Champions trophy. So, there is an added motivation to finish in the top eight to make the cut. Let us hope there is some improvement in the air quality during the course of the game. Delhi has produced a couple of belters so far. It might roll out another batting beauty. Will the Lankans put up a clinical show today? Or will Bangladesh bring their A game to the fore? Toss and team lineups will be announced in a while.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have only won two out of their seven games. They were clinical against Netherlands and England. Apart from that, they have faltered big time. There has been lack of consistency both in batting and bowling. They have suffered due to a few injuries. The form of their biggest weapon, Theekshana, has been lacklustre. After taking over the captaincy, Mendis has looked a shadow of himself. The silver lining for them have been Samarawickrama with the bat and Madushanka with the ball.

Bangladesh have had a horrid campaign so far. After defeating Afghanistan, they have lost six games in a row. A few of their batters are not batting at a position which is ideal for them. Some batters have moved up and down the order. And these little things have led to problems. The positives for them has been the form of Mahmudullah and Mehidy Hasan. The experienced campaigner has played a few brilliant knocks while the youngster has chipped in with both bat and ball.

12:50 Local Time, 07:20 GMT: Two teams in the bottom half of the table will square off against each other in Delhi today – we are talking about Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The poor air quality index (AQI) of Delhi has been the centre of attention in the buildup to this game. It has only worsened on the eve of the game. Both teams have cancelled some scheduled practice sessions over the past few days due to the poor air quality. Now, let us shift our attention back to the contest in hand. Sri Lanka's qualification hopes are hanging by a thread – even if they win their last two games convincingly, they need several other results to go their way. Meanwhile, Bangladesh are already out of the semi-final race.

Preview by Gokul Gopal

Face masks aren't a new thing in Delhi, they have been around even before the COVID-19 times. Heavily polluted air has been an annually-recurring problem for a while now. On Sunday (November 5), with the Air Quality Index still in the 'severe' category, the Delhi Education Minister announced that primary schools in Delhi would remain shut till November 10. What then of the Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh match?

An official statement from the ICC read: "The BCCI engaged the services of renowned Pulmonologist Dr Randeep Guleria to assess the situation in Delhi ahead of Monday's game and provide independent expert advice. Under Dr Guleria's guidance, the venue team has been taking mitigating actions throughout the day including the implementation of water sprinklers around the premises and the installation of air purifiers in the dressing rooms and match officials areas. The AQI within the stadium was monitored throughout the day which has reduced to levels considered acceptable by Dr Guleria.

"The ICC will continue to work in collaboration with Dr Guleria, BCCI, DDCA, and the Delhi Government to monitor the air quality and to take all possible steps to mitigate the air quality concerns at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and the match remains scheduled to take place in Delhi on Monday."

According to the ICC playing conditions, if the umpires deem that the conditions 'of ground, weather or light, or any other circumstances are dangerous or unreasonable, they shall immediately suspend play, or not allow play to start or to recommence. The decision as to whether conditions are so bad as to warrant such action is one for the umpires alone to make, following consultation with the ICC Match Referee'. In the case of tomorrow's game too, Delhi's pollution will be treated in the context of weather and the match referee will be the final authority in this matter. All eyes will be on Richie Richardson come Monday.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka both cancelled a practice session each in the build-up to the game, although Shakib Al Hasan's team did show up at the nets on Saturday. The members of the coaching staff all wore masks during the training as the players practised for about 2 and a half hours. On Sunday, however, only eight of the Bangladesh players turned up for practice as the team did not want to take any risk with those members who are asthmatic.

Delhi's poor quality air isn't a new thing for Sri Lanka either. Back in 2017, Sri Lankan players vomited and they even began a post-lunch session of a Test match against India sporting face masks on the field. "We had players coming off the field and vomiting. There were oxygen cylinders in the change room. It's not normal for players to suffer in that way while playing the game," Nic Pothas, the Sri Lanka coach then, had said. Pothas is now with the Bangladesh camp as an assistant coach and has shared his experiences. Sri Lanka eventually practised on Sunday, with the support staff all masked up.

Coming to the match itself, Sri Lanka are almost single-footed skating on thin ice. While they can still go to eight points if they win their remaining two games, the drubbing they received at the hands of India in their previous game - a 302-run hammering after being bowled out for 55 - has left them with too much catching up to do in terms of net run rate. Bangladesh, meanwhile, were the first team to be knocked out of the semifinals race. So this match essentially serves as the battle ground for the teams to avoid finishing at the bottom two spots and make the cut for the Champions Trophy.

When: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, 38th Match - November 6 at 2:00 PM IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

What to expect: Polluted air, with the AQI not getting any better. Pitch-wise, a couple of huge totals have been posted here. First it was South Africa who scored 428 against Sri Lanka and in the previous game here, Australia got 399. But expecting a high-scorer from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who have struggled with their batting, might be a little ambitious.

Team news

Sri Lanka

Kusal Mendis's team included Dushan Hemantha for Dhananjaya de Silva against India but the legspinner ended up having an expensive outing. They could look at bringing de Silva back or opt for Dunith Wellalage. Kusal Perera is an option in place of Dimuth Karunaratne.

Tactics & strategy

Using Chameera in the middle overs, particularly when Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim are around, could work in Sri Lanka's favour. The pacer has a favourable match-up against them, having dismissed them twice each and the Bangladesh batters have also found run-scoring not too easy against him. The in-form Dilshan Madhushanka also poses a big challenge for Bangladesh who have lost as many as 34 wickets to left-arm pace in 2023, most for any team. The 13 wickets that Bangladesh have lost to left-arm pace in this World Cup is the second most for a team, after Australia's 14.

Probable XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera/Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (c & wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dunith Wellalage/Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka

Bangladesh

Rahim had an injury scare on the eve of the game, being struck on his hand facing a throwdown. He batted two more deliveries before ending his stint and later was seen getting some ice on his hand. But the team management is confident that he will be available for the game. If he is not able to keep wickets, Litton Das can take the gloves. One of Mahedi Hasan and Nasum Ahmed could come in, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz might open, if they decide to leave Tanzid Hasan out.

Tactics & strategy

Kusal Mendis has been dismissed twice each by Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib, and Bangladesh might look at concentrating their attack with these three when the Sri Lankan captain is around. Shoriful Islam is a good option against Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera.

Probable XI: Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Towhid Hridoy, Mahedi Hasan/Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam

Did you know?

- Teams batting first have won seven of the nine ODIs in Delhi since 2013, and three out of four in this World Cup.

- Of all the venues used for this World Cup, Delhi has the highest economy rate (7.25), and the worst average (43.65) for pacers.

- Shakib Al Hasan has gone wicketless in 13 of the 26 ODI innings he has bowled in against Sri Lanka.

- Bangladesh collectively average 18.87 against pace in the 2023 World Cup, which is the lowest among all teams.

What they said

"We are trying to minimize our exposure to the outdoors as much as possible because we need to practice as well, as well as that we have to be careful about the long-term effects of this condition. Our doctor has kept a close eye on players. Some of the players didn't turn up for practice as they are asthmatic so they stayed indoors. And even for practice, we're very conscious. We train what we have to train, and they go back into the dressing room. They don't spend time unless they're bowling or batting." -Chandika Hathurusingha, Bangladesh head coach, on the air quality situation.

"We are constantly in touch with our medical team. The person who is in charge is already in India. Actually, he had come for a conference and we are in touch with him (and) the team doctor. And definitely we will be looking at the index, but obviously we will be guided by the ICC and I think they have a medical panel here so they will be giving us instructions. Obviously, today when we came, we were wearing masks, and we were told to wear masks. But it depends exactly what the outside index is." - Mahinda Halangoda, Sri Lanka team manager, on the air-related issues and ramifications.

Squads: