MIRPUR: It’s not about having the best team. It is not about revenge either. When India and Bangladesh square off on Saturday at the Shree-e-Bangla National Stadium here, it will all be about handling pressure.
There is so much hype surrounding the inaugural match of the 2011 World Cup that even a seasoned campaigner like Dhoni is feeling the heat, while his Bangladesh counterpart Shakib Al Hasan is reeling under it. While Dhoni tried to deflect pressure by playing to the gallery at Friday’s match-eve press conference, Shakib literally sweated it out even as he fielded uncomfortable questions, including a few on the injured Mashrafe Mortaza’s absence.
Shakib, in all seriousness, maintained that his side would miss the experienced allrounder, who was Man of the Match on the last two occasions when Bangladesh beat India, but expected others to do the job. Dhoni, on the other hand, simply pointed out – amid peals of laughter – that “being out of the squad means Mortaza wouldn’t be able to pick up the award this time.”
It was clearly Dhoni’s way of dealing with the pressures of World Cup that his team is hotly tipped to win. The match-up against Bangladesh represents the first hurdle in what promises to be a fascinating campaign.
History counts for little in instant cricket, and the loss to Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup has been reduced to a footnote by tall achievements by the current crop of players whom Dhoni has galvanized into world-beaters. It’s redemption, rather than revenge, that India would be seeking through a winning start on Saturday. Even lightning never strikes twice at the same place. To expect Bangladesh to do so against India will be expecting too much from Shakib’s youthful side which clearly lacks depth.
Purely from a cricketing point of view, Bangladesh are over-reliant on their left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal to post a match-winning total, while their bowling attack lacks both variety as well as depth. Their two pacers – Shaiful Islam and Rubel Hossain – are both right-arm operators, while their three frontline spinners Shakib, Razzak and Sohrawordi Suvho are all of left-arm variety.
Unless they make early inroads and keep picking wickets at regular intervals, it is hard to see them containing a powerful Indian line-up that boasts some of the biggest hitters in the game.
It is good for any captain to have a problem of plenty, but spare a thought for Dhoni, who must now make up his mind about Yuvraj Singh. Picked on his reputation as a match-winning batsman, Yuvi continues to struggle with the bat but has emerged as a frontline spinner, who regularly bowls his full quota of overs.
The first XI picks itself with Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir and Kohli taking up the top four slots and Yuvraj, Dhoni and Pathan coming in next, followed by Harbhajan, Zaheer, Chawla and Munaf.
Nehra could pip Munaf to the second pacer’s berth. But Dhoni must be relieved to see Zaheer back in the bowling nets here after missing the warm-up games.
Yuvi’s new-found confidence in bowling gives Dhoni a chance to include a frontline batsman instead of allrounder Pathan, whose hard-hitting skills may not be needed against Bangladesh. Dhoni has also not used Pathan’s off-spin much in the two warm-up matches against Australia and New Zealand. Raina could be a direct beneficiary as he is a good player of spin and would relish batting against the left-arm tweakers of Bangladesh.
The bald, brown pitch will have nothing to offer to the pacers. It is expected to play low and slow which means taking the pace off the ball would pay for the bowlers, while batsmen need to play the waiting game.
It may not be a walk in park for India, but a battle of attrition, where Dhoni’s bravehearts must overcome the pressure of expectations before slaying the Bangla Tigers in their den.
