Teams line up for the inauguration of the men’s Commonwealth Volleyball Championships at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Saturday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: India will launch their campaign in the second Commonwealth Volleyball Championships at the Netaji Indoor Stadium as firm favourites against neighbours Bangladesh on Sunday.

With a blend of youth and experience, India look to extract as much positives as possible from the opening match. According to Indian captain P. S. Srikanth, it’s nice to kick off a big tournament with a match against “easy” opponents.

“We beat them during the SAAF Games. They are a young side and that’s where we have got the advantage… Experience matters most,” he said.

India, it may be recalled, had won the bronze in the meet’s inaugural edition in Birmingham 26 years ago.

Coach Sridharan, however, wore a cautious look and refused to take anything for granted. “Bangladesh might be a young side but I don’t want to take any chance… We will play safely but target will also be to win,” Sridharan said on Saturday, minutes after the tournament was officially inaugurated.

Highlighting the Indian spikers’ “good heights” as an advantage, Sridharan maintained: “But they have developed some good blocking strategies recently… That’s where we should be cautious.”

Bangladesh coach Golam Rasul Khan also sounded confident: “We have come here to play well… The Indians are a good side but things will not be easy for them tomorrow.

In the other group A match on Sunday, Australia will take on Sri Lanka while defending champions Canada will face South Africa in a group B encounter.