Battle in Birmingham as neighbours face off

India captain Virat Kohli says he is wary of the threat posed by a "dangerous" Bangladesh as India won the toss and opted to bowl first in their Champions Trophy semi-final at Edgbaston.

There was some wet weather around that continued to plauge the Champions Trophy but despite a shower across the ground shortly before the coin toss, play was expected to start on time. 

Yuvraj Singh plays his 300th ODI and the veteran 35-year-old remains a key player for the defending Champions Trophy title holders, as both teams went into the match unchanged.

"Yuvraj's contribution to cricket has been outstanding," Kohli said on match eve. "He's been a total match-winner for India, won so many big tournaments in big cities, and this is just a testimony to the kind of talent he possesses.

"You obviously need to have all those things in place to be able to play 300 games for India and I congratulate him.

"Hopefully he can play a lot more for us and get in those match-winning performances all over again, and I hope it is a special one for him."

India topped Group B after impressively seeing off Pakistan and South Africa to advance to the last four, but the defending champions were given a wake-up call in between those wins when suffering a surprise defeat to Sri Lanka.

They are overwhelming favourites to book a second successive Champions Trophy final appearance, with a 240-run trouncing of Bangladesh - who were skittled for 84 - in a warm-up match last month still fresh in the memory.

Bangladesh have long discarded their reputation as the whipping boys of elite international cricket, particularly in the one-day format, and earned a first semi-final spot in a global competition with a thrilling win over New Zealand.

"Bangladesh have taken huge strides," said Kohli. "They are a very dangerous side on their day and everyone realises that.

"As we've seen already in this tournament, a lot of teams have surprised the opposition and we're certainly not taking anything for granted.

"We will use whatever momentum we've gained in this tournament to execute what we want to.

"Going into a big game like this, we're going to treat it as how we treated the last game. Our mindset does not differ.

"We're not going to go according to past results and what we've done in the past tournaments."

Bangladesh have never made the semi-final stage of an ICC event before, and has been on an upward curve since toppling England out of the 2015 World Cup.

"I know that on our day we can do anything, to be honest," captain Mashrafe Mortaza said on match eve.

"We are the team that is trying to improve ourselves a lot. We don't know what is going to be the result, but once you can play at your best, you know that you are going to play at your best and things can change.

"So even if we look at the last match, when Ross (Taylor) and (Kane) Williamson batted really well, but we come back strongly. That’s the thing, about never giving up on the ground."

Road to the semi-final

INDIA

4 June – India beat Pakistan by 124 runs

8 June – Sri Lanka beat India by seven wickets

11 June – India beat South Africa by eight wickets

BANGLADESH

1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, No Result

9 June – Bangladesh beat New Zealand by five wickets

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy nation

Schedule

1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

2 June – New Zealand v Australia, No Result

3 June – Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 96 runs

4 June – India beat Pakistan by 124 runs

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, No Result

6 June – England beat New Zealand by 87 runs

7 June – Pakistan beat South Africa by 19 runs (DLS method)

8 June – Sri Lanka beat India by seven wickets

9 June – Bangladesh beat New Zealand by five wickets

10 June – England beat Australia by 40 runs (DLS method)

11 June – India beat South Africa by eight wickets

12 June – Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by three wickets

14 June – First semi-final: England lost to Pakistan by eight wkts

15 June – Second semi-final: Bangladesh v India, Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final: Pakistan v TBC, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)