India won the toss and chose to bat against Bangladesh in the World Cup quarter-final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
The winner will face either co-hosts Australia or Pakistan in the semi-finals on March 26 at Sydney.
India have reached the knockout rounds unbeaten in their six group games and bowled out their opposition in the process taking 60 wickets.
Bangladesh have made the last eight after beating England, Scotland and Afghanistan along with a rained-out point with Australia.
It would be a considerable upset if ninth-ranked Bangladesh can dethrone the champions before an Indian-dominated MCG crowd.
While the two-time champion Indians are familiar with the pressure of sudden-death World Cup cricket, this will be Bangladesh’s first quarter-final.
Bangladesh can count among their three wins in 28 ODI encounters against their neighbours an upset five-wicket win in the pool stages at the 2007 tournament in the West Indies.
Bangladesh sent their country into raptures with their stunning 15-run victory to knock England out of the tournament and lock in on a quarter-final berth.
India field an unchanged team while Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza returns after missing the last pool game against New Zealand.
Teams
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG), Aleem Dar (PAK)
TV umpire: Steve Davis (AUS)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)
Weather: Wind change, chance of showers/storms. Maximum temperature 31 Celsius.
Pitch: Slow-paced pitch, likely to have runs — upwards of 300 — in first innings. All losing teams in the three previous World Cup matches at the MCG were bowled out in the second innings and lost by big margins. (AFP)
