Rohit Sharma & Co eager to begin campaign on a high with dominant victory as Men In Blue take on understrength Bangladesh in Dubai today
India players in a cheerful mood during the team’s practice session in Dubai yesterday. PIC/PTI
There are no easy games in international cricket, but India if were asked who they’d have wanted as their first opponents to work their way into the Champions Trophy, they would not have ruled Bangladesh out. That wouldn’t have been out of disrespect for the Bangladeshis, who can be dangerous opponents when the mood seizes them. It’s more because history and current rankings point to a vast gulf between the sides.
India have won 32 and lost just eight of 41 matches in the 50-over format between the sides. They are the No. 1 ODI side right now, while Bangladesh are a distant ninth, and even though Bangladesh have remarkably won three of the last five head-to-heads, India came out trumps in the last ODI between the teams, at the 2023 World Cup in Pune.
Perfect build-up
India’s lead-up to the Champions Trophy have been near perfect, a 3-0 rout of England also heralding a return to run-scoring of Rohit Sharma, their talismanic skipper, and Virat Kohli, the maker of the most ODI hundreds (50). Rohit’s blistering 119 in the second of the three games in Cuttack was of particular import because he has been at the forefront of India’s no-holds-barred approach at the top of the order, setting the example through deeds which have ensured that few words have been required to encourage his colleagues to follow suit.
Where India carry momentum with them, Bangladesh are perched more towards the other end of the spectrum. For all the confidence skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto exuded at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 24 hours before the Thursday showdown against their celebrated neighbours, Bangladesh haven’t played a lot of 50-over cricket of late, coming as they are from the Bangladesh Premier League.
On Monday, they were well beaten by Pakistan Shaheens in a warm-up game at the nearby ICC Academy grounds and are a little light on experience too with former captains Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das all missing for various reasons. These are household names who have carried Bangladesh cricket on their shoulders for several years and will be hard to replace — not that India have a like-for-like substitute for the extraordinary Jasprit Bumrah. Shanto will be hoping the younger guns step up and the seasoned campaigners, among them former skippers Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, come to the party because otherwise, this could be one long tournament for the side that finished eighth at the World Cup a year and a quarter back and just about scraped into the Champions Trophy.
Pacer Nahid Rana in focus
There is plenty of hype surrounding Nahid Rana, the 22-year-old who can bowl at 140 kmph. But in international cricket, it’s more about pace with control and if he is even slightly off his disciplines, he will be punished mercilessly by India’s explosive, experienced and effervescent batting group. Pace might not necessarily be the way to go in Dubai, where pitches have tended to play on the slower side. Bangladesh will be more inclined to trust their traditional strength, with the rider that when it comes to the spin department, India are at least equally well stocked.
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