After English lesson, Men in Blue look to redeem themselves against high-spirited Tigers
India go into their penultimate match of the first round against Bangladesh amid a sack full of injury issues, a middle order situation that is getting serious by the match and an unhappy chirp around MS Dhoni’s unexplained slowness which took the match away from India against England, a slowed down pitch notwithstanding.
India need to win both their matches against Bangladesh today and Sri Lanka on July 6 to be in the competition with Australia for the top position, a scenario which will be clearer only if Australia lose to South Africa. But for now, India need a win, an emphatic one at that, against Bangladesh to seal their spot, most likely No 2, in the knockout round.
That’s no easy going, considering Bangladesh has earned a reputation of unsettling the applecart of many a team since that one-off big upset which had India travelling back home early in 2007. Often, on the big stage, Mashrafe Mortaza’s band has staged surprising coups despite the odds being against them. For this one, which Bangladesh must win to survive in the tournament, predictors have put an 84 per cent chance on India over Bangladesh.
But all that apart, Mashrafe’s golden man with the bat and ball, Shakib-Al-Hasan is in sublime form as the Cup’s No 3 run-getter and has also been among a rich haul of wickets. Then there is Mushfiqur, Liton and Mahmudullah (under physio guidance for now) to take care of, even if Tamim’s spurty form, is put on the side.
India, whose fiery opener Shikhar Dhawan left the Cup due to a fracture just when he had returned to form, now have a another big one going home with the team officially ruling out Vijay Shankar from the rest of the tournament due to an aggravated toe injury he sustained at nets while trying to navigate a Bumrah yorker, a day before the Afghanistan match.
Rishabh Pant who skipper Kohli thinks is unstoppable after he gets to his 20s, and will be playing the next two matches, is still callow for the big stage and it remains to be seen how he soaks in the pressure of the big moment.
Rohit Sharma, the lone centurion warrior who scored his third century of the Cup in a lost match day before yesterday, will be looking for some keen support to shape the innings at the other end not just in the first 10 overs which the Indians have kept quiet and tidy as a calculated decision, but in the crucial middle overs where the No 4 position turns relevant but has been in the doldrums much before India’s current World Cup journey.
Assistant coach Sanjay Bangar has indicated that the team is up for trying out all combinations which might even include Bhuvneshwar Kumar being taken in as the third pacer and Ravindra Jadeja in place of Kedar Jadhav. This will be a happy move to trim the Golden Retriever kind of long and bushy tail that India has been sporting lately. Also, Dinesh Karthik is yet to graduate from being the 12th man. “All players are available,” Bangar said on the day of the match against England.
Over and above all these issues, master finisher Dhoni’s newly acquired inertia affliction added, Kohli would be looking to win the toss to seize the advantage of batting first on probably the same pitch which slowed down in the later innings against England. Between the two World Cups India has been put through a chase 13 times till now but has won only thrice.
As far as today’s contenders are concerned, India have convincingly won their last two World Cup encounters against Bangladesh after the disastrous five wicket loss in 2007. It is for India to forget and Bangladesh to invoke that long ago Caribbean outing before they get into the middle today when the temperatures will be very English and summery at 18 degrees Celsius, the wind blowing at 9 miles an hour and the sun playing hide and seek for most part of the day.