After recording their first loss of their World Cup campaign, India face neighbours Bangladesh next in their penultimate game of the league stage.
These two teams have met thrice before in World Cups with India winning on two occasions. The only time, India lost against the Bangla Tigers was in 2007 which started a turnaround in Bangladesh cricket.
Bangladesh have put up an impressive performance so far in the tournament winning three games out of the total seven games played. They have won against South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan and ended up scoring 330 plus in two of them. Even in the a losing cause against Australia, chasing 383, Bangladesh managed to score 333.
What was evident in these wins were the fact that they have a solid batting line-up with Shakib shouldering most of the responsibilities at the top of the order. With Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah following him in the batting order, Bangladesh have all the necessary resources to get the better off India.
Thus, the equation is pretty simple for India when they face one of their arch-rivals. India should send Bangladesh to bat if they win the toss and this way limit the threat of their ability to chase in the second innings.
India, on the other hand, also have a good history while chasing with skipper Virat Kohli leading the charge. Also with Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya in the line-up India should fancy their chances of chasing down a target beyond 300.
Here’s are the five Bangladesh players who would be a threat to India’s chances in Birmingham.
Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib has been a threat to all the teams both with the bat and the ball. He has scored 476 runs from seven matches striking at almost 100 and averaging almost 96. To add to that, he has picked up 10 wickets, which included a fifer against Afghanistan.
With two hundreds in the tournament so far against South Africa and West Indies, the left-hander will be looking for another one in a must-win clash against India. He has
Shakib has played good against India in the past and that he has been consistent throughout the tournament so far, augurs well for his team. It equally sends a signal to the Indian team not to take him lightly.
Mushfiqur Rahim
If Shakib has been shouldering the responsibilities with the bat at the top of the order, Rahim has been finishing the innings off for Bangladesh.
In the process, Rahim has scored 78, 102, 83 and a couple of forties in the tournament. His ton came against Australia when Bangladesh were chasing a total in excess of 380.
Rahim being one of the senior cricketers will need to continue his good form with the bat for Bangladesh in this must-win match against India.
Mahmudullah
The right-handed batsmen has been one of the underrated Bangladesh cricketers, who has risen to the occasion time and again.
He scored a 69 against Australia, keeping Bangladesh in the hunt, besides chipping in with important contributions against other teams as well. With Bangladesh performing better as a batting group, Mahmudullah’s form is one of the important cog in that batting line-up.
Bangladesh would love to see him score big with the bat against India.
Mustafizur Rahman
He was India’s nemesis when the Men in Blue played the Tigers in a bilateral series in 2014. Since then, he has turned out to be one of the most promising young bowlers in world cricket.
He too, like Shakib has taken 10 wickets in the tournament so far and against India, his skipper will need him to be at his best.
He picked up three wickets each against South Africa and Bangladesh besides one each against England and Australia. Against Afghanistan, he took two wickets to help his team win the game.
Mashrafe Mortaza
The veteran Bangladesh skipper, is playing his fourth World Cup and has accounted for only one wicket in the tournament so far. However, he loves playing against India and have always loved the competition against the Men in Blue.
Mashrafe has a total of 23 wickets against India in 19 matches.
Having a below-par tournament as per his standards, Mashrafe would like to rise to the occasion and make a sizable contribution in a game where his team is in a must-win situation.
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