Kohli cautious of Bangladesh

– Indian captain Virat Kohli (above) shrugged off concerns about his team’s lower-middle order ahead of their Champions Trophy semifinal with Bangladesh today and called for complete focus against their “dangerous” opponents.

India’s top order were solid in group stage victories over Pakistan and the Proteas, meaning the likes of Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja have not really been tested apart from during the defeat by Sri Lanka.

The trio did not bat against South Africa and Jadeja has not faced a ball in the tournament, leading to concerns about what might happen if the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni fail to fire.

“As a batsman you want to finish off games,” Kohli told a news conference yesterday. “You are not necessarily going to get out thinking ‘my middle order has not got enough game time’. We know Kedar and Hardik are playing really well at the moment so we are not bothered at all.”

Kohli said India would field the same team that pulled off a comprehensive eight-wicket win over South Africa in their last match, meaning spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will keep his place at the expense of seamer Umesh Yadav.

The skipper also warned his team not to underestimate Bangladesh, a team who have improved dramatically over the past few years to the point where they are now one game away from reaching a first final at an ICC event.

“It’s no surprise anymore to anyone that they are doing really well,” Kohli added.

Bangladeshi skipper Mashrafe Mortaza urged his team not to let the hype surrounding the match get to them.

“There will be a lot of hype around this game ... but our first task is to stay relaxed and play.” –