Australia vs. Bangladesh, World T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

Australia and Bangladesh face off in what should be an intriguing clash as fixtures in the WorldTwenty20 continue to roll in thick and fast.

Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Date: Monday, March 21

Start time: 7:30 p.m local time (2 p.m GMT)

Live on: Channel 9 and Fox Sports (Australia), Ariana TV Network (Afghanistan), BTV (Bangladesh), ESPN Star and Star Sports (India), Sky Sport NZ (New Zealand), Sky Sports 2 (United Kingdom), Willow TV (USA and Canada), PTV Sports and Ten Sports (Pakistan), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN Sports (Middle East)

Weather: AccuWeather.com predicts a blistering day with temperatures creeping up to 38 degrees Celsius. Things should cool down to around 25 degrees in the evening, but a lot of that daytime heat will probably hang around in the air. There is no chance of a thunderstorm, though, which is good news.

Overview 

So far, the World T20 has been all about teams doing the most ridiculous things. New Zealand upset the hosts India, while South Africa failed to defend 229 against England. Bangladesh will be looking to add to that run of ridiculousness by beating Australia when the two sides meet on Monday.

The Tigers will have to do it without Arafat Sunny and pacer Taskin Ahmed, though, after both were suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect following independent testing, which found their actions to be illegal, per ESPN Cricinfo's Mohammad Isam.

Both played in Bangladesh's Super 10 clash against Pakistan, with Sunny taking two for 34 and Taskin two for 32 in the losing cause. Those figures weren’t enough to save Bangladesh, though, who struggled in all departments, conceding over 200 runs and the batsmen managing a meagre 146, as Pakistan won by 55 runs.

Bangladesh have never beaten Australia in a T20, but there is no reason why they should not believe that they can. Australia lost their opening fixture, against New Zealand, and hardly looked like the world-beating, chest-thumping, unbeatable team their reputation proclaims them to be.

Their T20 record since 2015 is poor, having won just two out of eight fixtures, and if Bangladesh can get over the psychological blow of losing two of their bowlers and that massive defeat against Pakistan, we could be in for a thriller.

Neither side has played at Bangalore this tournament, so both will be unfamiliar with conditions. Bangalore has hosted just one T20i before, with Pakistan beating India here in 2012, chasing down 134 with two balls remaining.

Tidy bowling, especially from the spinners, will be Bangladesh’s biggest asset, while Australia will be hoping their big batting guns fire in what is a must-win match for both sides.

Key players

Australia

Tidy bowling goes a long way in the modern era, where T20 is very much a batsman's game. James Faulkner was one of Australia's most effective bowlers in their opening fixture, taking two for 18 with an economy rate of 6.00. Add to that his ability with the bat, and Faulkner is very much a gun player for the Aussies.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh played the preliminary rounds of matches, which has allowed their players to get their eye in. Tamim Iqbal leads the run-scoring charts with 257, including his maiden century, and the Tigers will want him to set the platform for them to build a big total from.

Squads

Australia: Steven Smith, Ashton Agar, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Shane Watson, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, Aaron Finch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, David Warner

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza, Abu Hider, Arafat Sunny, Mohammad Mithun, Nurul Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Al-Amin Hossain