Bangladesh know how to win overseas
India will do well not to take Bangladesh lightly when they take on their Eastern neighbour in the semi-finals at Birmingham. Agreed they did very well in the warm-up game where they bundled out Bangladesh for a paltry score after putting up more than 300 runs themselves, but that team did not have Tamim Iqbal playing in it.
He has been incredibly consistent and despite falling for a duck in his previous innings against New Zealand, the century and near-century he scored in the earlier games against England and Australia tells you of the form he is in. Then the manner in which Shakib Al Hassan and Mahmudullah fought back despite the early loss of wickets is another factor that tells you that this is a different Bangladesh team that doesn’t give up easily. Their bowling too is good and Mustafizur is never easy to score off. This Bangladesh team knows how to win overseas and they have now got a few impressive wins over strong teams especially in England.
India will be quietly confident after the near-perfect match that they played against South Africa but they won’t be complacent after that loss to Sri Lanka. Bringing Ravichandran Ashwin back in the team was a good move. In any case whatever the opposition or the pitch or the weather conditions, it’s hard to understand how a bowler who wins matches for you regularly, gets left out of the team. You wouldn’t drop your top batsman would you, so why drop the top bowler in the team?
India’s openers are a destructive pair and when they get going, it’s tough to stop them. Rohit Sharma is due for a big score after that early dismissal against South Africa and with Shikhar Dhawan being in top form, India will expect a brisk start. Kohli batted superbly too against the South Africans and down the order too there was great support.
The bowling was top class as they built pressure on the much vaunted South African batsmen with dot balls and made them attempt foolish runs. It’s the fielding once again that has been the area where they need to work hard. The best of fielders drop catches so that is understandable but it’s hard to understand how balls are allowed to go through hands and legs. Virat Kohli also learnt from the first game and now has his quick movers in the deep since in the 30yard circle, the singles will be stolen anyway — so there is no point having the quick fielders there.
It’s looking good as all systems are going well. Cricket though is a funny game and pressure can crack the most experienced and coolest of players.