The Indian cricket team has had a perfect World Cup so far, but it can all go horribly wrong if they have just one bad day tomorrow, as they play the minnows of cricket Bangladesh at the MCG in Melbourne.
It’s hard to say if Indians would be relishing taking on a much weaker Bangladesh side, because potentially, this match is a huge banana skin for them, an embarrassment of massive proportions just waiting to happen. Can India lose tomorrow’s match and be thrown out of a World Cup which they have dominated so far?
Certainly. Because as we all know, cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. Anything is possible in cricket, and Bangladesh, if readers care to remember, have a history of eliminating India from World Cups. Who can forget what happened in the 2007 World Cup held in the Caribbean – when India faced a humiliating exit because of a loss to an unfancied Bangladesh?
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Can Bangladesh repeat 2007 here? Well, clearly they are a much better side than they were back in 2007. Captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who was one of the heroes of the 2007 World Cup for Bangladesh, certainly thinks 2007 doesn’t matter. Mortaza says, “2007 won’t help; 2011, when we lost, that doesn’t help either. In short-form cricket, what is important is how you do on the day.”
But there is no reason why Bangladesh cannot repeat their 2007 performance. For one, Bangladesh are actually very similar to the Indian side, they have similar batsmen, a similar bowling attack, it’s just that the Indians are the superpowers of world cricket, while the Bangladeshis are still struggling to make their mark in the global game.
But things can change very rapidly during the course of a one day international match. A couple of mistakes by the Indian top order – which we all know they are capable of, an inspired batting performance from Bangladeshi batsmen such as Mahmudullah, and anything is possible.
Mahmudullah, by the way has quietly picked up more runs than any Indian batsman in this World Cup. Indians are well aware of the strengths of Bangladesh.
Here’s what middle order batsman Suresh Raina had to say about his opponents: “I wanted to congratulate Bangladesh for qualifying for the quarter-final. It’s good to see India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – all four subcontinent teams – in the quarter-final. Earlier people were saying that we don’t have all-rounders for conditions, so it’s good to see the teams from subcontinent through.”
India’s bowling attack has been a revelation and once again, we expect Bhuvneshwar Kumar to miss out, with Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma taking over the attack. Indians are keeping their calm, are relaxed but confident. But they are aware that mistakes cannot be made to happen in tomorrow’s match, as a defeat would be a disaster.
India are expected to retain the same side for tomorrow’s match. Mashrafe Mortaza is expected to be back for Bangladesh after missing the last match because of an injury.
The Teams
Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4 Mahmudullah, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Sabbir Rahman, 8 Arafat Sunny/Nasir Hossain, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Taskin Ahmed
India: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Umesh Yadav
Match conditions
The MCG pitch is known to be an especially flat deck for this World Cup. 300 plus scores have been a regular feature here and we expect the batsmen to have fun once again at the expense of the bowlers from both sides. The weather looks perfect, and we don’t expect it to rain tomorrow at Melbourne.
Watch India take on Bangladesh in the 2nd Quarter-Final of the ICC World Cup, tomorrow at 9 AM live on Star Sports!
