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The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has lined up seven red-ball games for Bangladesh as the focus shifts from T20Is to the World Test Championship for the rest of the year. Bangladesh have Test series against Pakistan, India, South Africa and West Indies left in their 2023-25 WTC cycle.The Test cricketers will play three four-day matches in Chattogram next month. The home matches will be followed by two four-day matches against Pakistan A in Darwin from July 19 to 29. The Bangladesh A team will then travel to Pakistan in August to play two four-day matches against the same opponents. Additionally, New Zealand A are also scheduled to tour Bangladesh in August or September.Bangladesh players have also been involved in training camps since May in Chattogram and Sylhet. BCB’s cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus said that the Test players are “progressing well” in the camps, adding that the four-day games against strong opponents will help them in the WTC matches.”We can give them the best preparation ahead of the grueling Test schedule in the coming months,” Yunus said. “The rest is up to the players. I have been following the Bangladesh Tigers camp, which is going well.”The Bangladesh’s senior men’s team is likely to travel to Pakistan on August 17 for two Tests, venues and dates for which are yet to be announced. After Pakistan, they will play two Tests against India in Chennai and Kanpur, followed by three T20Is.Bangladesh could tour India twice in three months if the BCB agree with the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s revised schedule for two white-ball series in late July. The ACB have proposed to play three ODIs and three T20Is in Greater Noida in their new itenerary. The tour was initially postponed in March keeping in mind Bangladesh’s workload in 2024, but now with the Champions Trophy also in their agenda, the BCB is considering this tour since they only have three ODIs scheduled between now and next February.ESPNcricinfo understands that the series is still in the “discussion” phase as the BCB is not too keen on playing in Noida during July due to the weather conditions.After the bilateral series in India in September, Bangladesh will host South Africa for two home Tests in October, and then tour West Indies for a full series in November and December.

Moeen Ali believes that England will have to be at their best to beat India in their T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final, but hopes that they can draw on the 10-wicket thrashing they inflicted on the same opponents at the same stage in the 2022 tournament when they meet in Guyana on Thursday.England were the first team to qualify for the semi-finals but spent two more nights in Barbados after securing their progress with a 10-wicket win over USA at Kensington Oval. Their semi-final venue was confirmed on Monday when India beat Australia in St Lucia, and they arrived in Georgetown on a charter flight on Tuesday morning. India flew on Monday night.It is a step into the unknown for England. They have not played a game at Providence Stadium since the 2010 edition of this tournament, when they lost to West Indies and then scraped through their initial first-round group thanks to a no-result against Ireland. Chris Jordan played there twice in the CPL in 2019 and is the only member of their squad to have played a T20 match at the venue.Related

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• Tactics Board: The Bumrah, Archer and Kuldeep overs will be pivotal

• Providence venue guide: Go hard in powerplay, expect sharp turn and low bounce

Not that India’s experience there is extensive: a young squad played two T20Is at Providence last August, while some also featured in a 2019 T20I. It will come down to which team adapts best to conditions. “I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard it’s an amazing place,” Moeen said before England’s flight. “You can expect some sort of spin and a tough-ish wicket.”Moeen described England’s World Cup to date as “a rollercoaster ride”. An extra hour of rain in Antigua would have knocked them out in the first round and despite their progress to a fourth successive T20 World Cup semi-final, they have still only beaten one Full Member side – West Indies – at this tournament. “Getting here was quite tough,” he said. “But it’s nice to be here, when you’re two games away from winning the World Cup.”India, by contrast, have a 100 percent record in completed matches over the last three weeks and underlined their status as tournament favourites by beating Australia on Monday, a result which knocked the 50-over world champions out of the tournament. “They looked very, very strong, like they did in the last World Cup,” Moeen said.England booked their semi-final spot with a 10-wicket win over USA•Getty Images

Rohit Sharma was particularly dominant, hitting 92 off 41 balls from the top of the order. “He’s a world-class player – one of the best players in the world,” Moeen said. “You sometimes just hope they get out in T20s. That’s the thing in cricket, especially T20 cricket: you’re not always guaranteed runs, no matter how good you’re playing. But they’ve got other players as well.”They’re just a brilliant side. They’ve got everything covered, so we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them. I’m looking forward to it, actually: it’s a great challenge, similar to the last time we played them in the semi-final in Australia. It’s going to be a challenge, and we’re going to have to plan and play really well.”The Adelaide semi-final is best remembered for Jos Buttler and Alex Hales’ unbroken 170-run partnership which led England to victory with four overs to spare, but was set up by their bowlers. India managed only 62 for 2 off their first 10 overs after being asked to bat first, and Hardik Pandya’s late hitting was not enough to get them to a winning total.Moeen said his main memories of the game were “just how clinical” England were in their preparation. “But [also] the way we took them on, and we were unbelievable with the bat. We set the game up on that wicket with the ball. Even when they got away from us a little bit at the end, it was a bit late. That was a great day, and a great performance.”Arshdeep Singh, who bowled two wicketless overs in the Adelaide semi-final, was reluctant to look ahead after India’s win over Australia. “It’s exciting when you come to World Cups and in the knockout stages you have really nice opponents,” he said. “But our motto here is ‘stay where your feet are’ and right now, we are just trying to enjoy this moment.”

Sanju Samson: Traded to Chennai Super Kings from Rajasthan Royals in exchange of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam CurranShardul Thakur: Traded to Mumbai Indians from Lucknow Super Giants for INR 2 croreSherfane Rutherford: Traded to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans for INR 2.6 croreArjun Tendulkar: Traded to Lucknow Super Giants from Mumbai Indians for INR 30 lakhMohammed Shami: Traded to Lucknow Super Giants from Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 10 croreMayank Markande: Traded to Mumbai Indians from Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 30 lakhNitish Rana: Traded to Delhi Capitals from Rajasthan Royals for INR 4.2 croreDonovan Ferreira: Traded to Rajasthan Royals from Delhi Capitals for INR 1 crore

Big picture – India look to gather momentum

India will walk into this fixture with a sense of relief and renewed confidence. Having already secured a place in the semi-finals, the pressure has shifted from qualification to maintaining momentum. After three games where things seemed to go awry, they finally hit top gear against New Zealand, led by a commanding performance from their batters.It’s not just that. The match will be played in Navi Mumbai – the venue for both India’s semi-final and the final – a ground India know well and one where they appear to have found their ideal template. After several games of tinkering with combinations, they seemed to get it right against New Zealand, reverting to five-bowler setup, leaving allrounder Amanjot Kaur out. The move to promote the returning Jemimah Rodrigues to No. 3 also paid off, and that could open the door for further experimentation against Bangladesh.India’s bowlers backed the batters up with precision. The seamers struck early, and the rest of the attack ensured New Zealand never recovered, forcing errors and maintaining pressure throughout.Related

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The middle order was not tested but with knockout games approaching, time in the middle for those players could be invaluable. India have batted first in five matches so far and chased only once – losing that game to England by four runs – so they may also be tempted to test themselves in a chase, should they win the toss, to round out their preparation.For Bangladesh, this is a chance to upset one of the tournament favourites and prove they belong on this stage. They’ve run stronger sides close in at least three games and have relied on their disciplined bowling attack, their biggest strength all tournament. There have been flashes of resistance with the bat, and if they can sustain those longer, they have a chance of stretching India.

Form guide

India WLLLW
Bangladesh LLLLL

In the spotlight – Renuka Singh and Bangladesh’s legspinners

India will look once again to Renuka Singh for early breakthroughs. Against New Zealand, she delivered exactly that. Having missed the matches against Australia and South Africa, and gone wicketless in her two previous outings, Renuka rediscovered her rhythm in Navi Mumbai. Exploiting the early movement on offer, she teamed up with Kranti Gaud to keep New Zealand in check, not conceding a single boundary in the first six overs. Her efforts were rewarded with the wickets of Georgia Plimmer and Sophie Devine, both undone by sharp in-duckers. She finished with figures of 2 for 25 from her six overs – a spell that set the tone for India’s dominance.Rabeya Khan and Shorna Akter will be key to Bangladesh’s hopes•BCB

Can Bangladesh’s legspinning duo of Rabeya Khan and Shorna Akter trouble India’s batters? The pair injected energy and control into their attack against Sri Lanka, bowling tirelessly in the Navi Mumbai heat. Their discipline through the middle overs stifled scoring opportunities and built pressure. Rabeya provided the key breakthrough, removing the dangerous Chamari Athapaththu and halting Sri Lanka’s momentum, while Shorna struck twice, dismissing Hasini Perera and Nilakshika Silva, to help restrict the opposition to just 202.

Team news

Richa Ghosh copped a blow to her left hand while keeping against New Zealand and was off the field during much of their chase, with Uma Chetry taking the gloves. On the eve of the Bangladesh game, bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi said Ghosh was “fine and the S&C team is taking care of it,” but India were “still discussing” her availability. India went back to their five-bowler strategy in the match against New Zealand, leaving allrounder Amanjot out, and they are likely to persist with that winning combination.India (probable): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Pratika Rawal, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Renuka Singh, 10 Kranti Gaud, 11 Shree Charani.Sharmin Akter walked off battling cramps during Bangladesh’s chase against Sri Lanka but came back to bat in the final over. There are no injury concerns in the side.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Fargana Hoque, 2 Rubya Haider, 3 Sharmin Akhter, 4 Nigar Sultana (capt & wk), 5 Sobhana Mostary, 6 Ritu Moni, 7 Shorna Akter, 8 Nahida Akter, 9 Rabeya Khan, 10 Nishita Akter, 11 Marufa Akter.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch remained covered on the eve of the game with rain in the air. There’s rain forecast for Sunday evening as well. The surface has generally aided batting, while fast bowlers have tended to get early movement.

Stats that matter

• Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal have 1557 partnership runs between them across 20 innings in 2025, the second-most by any pair in ODIs in a calendar year. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly are ahead, with 1635 runs in 29 innings in 1998.
• Kranti Gaud has 22 wickets in 13 ODIs so far. These are the most by an India bowler in her debut year in Women’s ODIs and only three overall have taken more – Charmaine Mason (25 in 1997), Aimee Watkins (23 in 2002) and Lyn Fullston (23 in 1982).
• Bangladesh’s bowlers have an economy rate of 4.54 in this World Cup, the same as England’s.

For about 10 overs, Pakistan threatened what has become rare in recent years, a memorable cricketing contest against India, but ran out of gas against the depth of India’s bowling. Still, 171 was the highest total Pakistan have ever posted batting first against India, but it ended up as all their defences against India have: in defeat, this time with seven balls to spare.Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill crushed the total without ever looking in trouble, starting with a six first ball and adding 105 for the first wicket in just 59 balls, making sure the middle order didn’t have too much to do when scoring became difficult against the older ball. Gill scored 47 off 28, and Abhishek, who had dropped Sahibzada Farhan in the first over of the match, carried on to 74 off 39, and left India just 49 to get off 46 when he was dismissed.Farhan went on to score a fifty to promise a contest but it felt like he had to play out of his skin to get there. He was also culpable in Pakistan’s slowdown, adding just 7 off 11 after reaching fifty as Pakistan went 39 legal deliveries without a boundary.Abhishek Sharma’s explosive innings contained six fours and five sixes•AFP/Getty Images

Even though the chase appeared a walk in the park, the simmering tensions between the sides rose to the surface on the odd occasion. India’s batters appeared to be extra mindful of reassuring each other as the players from the two sides engaged with each other for the first time in more than one-and-a-half matches.India remained the cooler of the sides: Farhan wielded his bat like a gun after reaching fifty, Abhishek blew kisses after reaching his. The celebrations were indicative of the effort taken to reach the respective milestones.

Bumrah’s costliest powerplay

Pakistan protected the struggling Saim Ayub from opening the innings, and it worked with Fakhar Zaman getting off to a flier, after which Farhan carried on. Pakistan raced away to their best powerplay against India, scoring 55 for 1. Jasprit Bumrah bowled three overs in the first six for the third straight match, and registered his costliest T20I powerplay: 34 runs.Sahibzada Farhan slowed down after getting Pakistan off to a quick start•AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan get over middle-overs muddle… just about

Coming into this match, the only teams in this Asia Cup slower than Pakistan in the middle overs were Oman and UAE. Pakistan had gone at under a run a ball, but this time they managed to hit three four sixes in overs 8-10, off Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel. The fourth six brought up Farhan’s half-century.Having done the hard work, Pakistan slumped. The slide began against Shivam Dube, whose progress as a sixth bowler through this tournament will satisfy India immensely. Dube didn’t provide the batters any pace, stayed away from their swinging arc, and took out both Ayub and Farhan after they had put on 72 for the second wicket. The quality of Varun and Kuldeep then shone through, as they tied Pakistan down despite taking just one wicket between them. Faheem Ashraf’s unbeaten 20 off 8 added respectability to the score, but it always looked light.

Abhishek, Gill blitz through

It began looking even lighter when Abhishek hooked the first ball of the chase for a six. Gill and Abhishek laced the bowling, making full use of the new ball and whatever pace Shaheen Shah Afridi provided them. India’s 69 for 0 was the best powerplay of this Asia Cup, and India’s best against Pakistan.Abhishek kept clearing the infield while Gill kept finding the gaps, and all the while they made sure they stood together whenever a confrontation threatened to materialise. It eventually came to a head with Abhishek and Rauf in each other’s face after Gill pulled the latter for a four.Ashraf provided Pakistan the breakthrough with a ball that seamed in to bowl Gill immediately after he had taken treatment for cramps. Suryakumar Yadav then fell for a duck, but Abhishek kept striking the ball cleanly, taking down Abrar Ahmed, potentially Pakistan’s most threatening bowler. Even though Abrar finally got his wicket, Abhishek took him for 32 off 12 balls including four sixes.

Tilak labours through the last mile

India experienced a brief slowdown similar to Pakistan’s as Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma struggled to come to terms with the old ball not coming onto the bat. Samson managed just 13 off 17, but Tilak saw India through with sixes off Rauf and Afridi in the 18th and 19th overs.

Northamptonshire 154 for 4 (Bopara 105*, Clark 3-13) beat Surrey 147 for 6 (S Curran 69*, Scrimshaw 3-34) by 7 runs Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara produced an explosive knock of 105 not out from 46 balls to stun Surrey and propel Northamptonshire Steelbacks to their first Vitality Blast Finals Day since 2016.The 40-year-old, a former Blast winner with Essex, turned back the clock with a magnificent display – posting his first Northamptonshire hundred as they fought back after losing two early wickets to post 154 for four in a rain-reduced contest at the Kia Oval.Surrey captain Sam Curran made a valiant attempt to rescue his side with a first half-century of the tournament, an undefeated 69 from 38 – but they came up short on 147 for six.Experienced seam pair Ben Sanderson (two for 24) and David Willey (one for 28) kept their cool in the death overs to clinch the Steelbacks’ success.An early evening downpour trimmed the contest to 14 overs per side and, having won a crucial toss, the Surrey skipper had no hesitation in opting to bowl when play finally began at 7.50pm.That choice was quickly vindicated by Jordan Clark (three for 13), who made the ball swing and removed both Steelbacks openers for ducks in a devastating first over before a flurry of boundaries by Tim Robinson got the scoreboard moving.The New Zealander clubbed 20 from 12, mostly from Tom Curran’s opening over, but tried to pull Chris Jordan’s first ball and perished to a top edge – passing the baton on to Bopara, who seized it eagerly.Runs flowed through the veteran’s combination of power, timing and precision, with Gus Atkinson’s single over disappearing for 18 before Bopara clipped Clark to the fence to post his half-century.Supported by Saif Zaib (17 not out from 12), Bopara hit the accelerator and dominated their unbroken partnership of 74 from 35, hooking Tom Lawes for four from the penultimate ball of the innings to bring up a remarkable 45-ball ton.Like the visitors, Surrey were two down early on as Ryan Patel swung his first ball into the hands of deep square leg and Lewis McManus, standing up to Sanderson, took a thin edge to dismiss Jason Roy.Ollie Pope (41 from 23) went on the offensive, cutting Willey for two fours and driving his namesake, leg-spinner Lloyd, for a straight maximum as he and Sam Curran accumulated steadily and kept the required rate within range.The pair added 74 from 38 before Pope top-edged a short delivery from George Scrimshaw (three for 34) to long leg and, when Dan Lawrence holed out two balls later, the home side still needed another 70 from 32.Curran kept them in contention, slamming Justin Broad over the cover fence and Laurie Evans banged successive fours off Scrimshaw before miscuing the next one to point.Sanderson returned to send down an over that cost him just five before Willey’s spate of yorkers left Surrey needing 19 – and, although Curran smote a Sanderson full toss for six – it was not enough.