Bangladesh frenzy ahead of India opener
Bangladesh has been gripped by cricket fever ahead of the World Cup
opener against India on Saturday as fans savour the prospect of another
stunning win over the favourites.
The Tigers upset India by five wickets in their first match of the
previous World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007, causing the 1983 champions
and 2003 finalists to be knocked out in the first round.
That victory was followed by another over South Africa in the Super
Eights round, setting off unprecedented celebrations in the tiny
cricket-mad nation.
Fans now expect Shakib Al Hasan’s men to repeat the 2007 success on
home turf at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium, even as India gun for revenge
and ensure a winning start to their campaign. India have won 20 of their
22 one-day matches against the Tigers, but local fans were confident the
current team will reverse the trend in the day-night match.
“Of course we will win, we have never lost to India in the World
Cup,” said Dhaka shopkeeper Halim Rahman.
It did not matter to him the two nations have met just once in the
tournament’s 36-year history.
Bangladesh could not have asked for a better setting to challenge
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Indians, who face the daunting prospect of
playing in front of some 25,000 partisan fans.
Familiar home conditions that assist the slow left-arm spin of Shakib
and Abdur Razzak have seen Bangladesh win seven and lose just one of
their last 10 home one-dayers. The victories included an astonishing 4-0
rout of Daniel Vettori’s New Zealand in October.
Shakib chose to play down expectations, saying Bangladesh needed to
play well in all their six league matches and not just the game against
India.
“Fans do expect a lot but there is no pressure on us,” he said. “It’s
not just about winning the first game, but doing well in all our
matches.”
Bangladesh will be without former captain and pace spearhead Mashrafe
Mortaza, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a recurring knee
injury.
Mortaza, 27, has been the pivot of the Bangladesh attack with 146
one-day wickets, including a match-winning 4-38 against India in the
last World Cup.
Bangladesh will depend on the left-handed openers, Tamim Iqbal and
Imrul Kayes, the fluent Junaid Siddique and former captain Mohammad
Ashraful to give the spinners a reasonable total to defend.
India have enjoyed an impressive run over the last three years, which
has taken Dhoni’s men to the top of the Test rankings and made them
number two behind Australia in the one-dayers.
They go into the Cup opener on the back of two convincing
morale-boosting wins over Australia and New Zealand in practice matches
this week.
The Indians rely mainly on its powerful batting, led by world recorld
holder Sachin Tendulkar, to pile up a big total and bat the other side
out of a match.
With Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh adding to a top-heavy
line-up and Dhoni and the explosive Yusuf Pathan coming down the order,
Harbhajan Singh has been pushed to number eight despite two Test
centuries to his credit. Off-spinner Harbhajan leads the bowling attack
with new-ball spearhead Zaheer Khan, but India will rely on part-timers
Sehwag, Yuvraj and Pathan to fill the fifth bowler’s spot. India and
Bangladesh have been drawn with England, the West Indies, South Africa,
Ireland and the Netherlands in group B, with the top four advancing to
the quarter-finals. DHAKA, AFP |