As Bangladesh takes on India in a must-win game on Tuesday in Birmingham, they can draw an inspiration from their 2007 World Cup campaign, when they stunned the sub-continents giants to move them into the super eight stage.
Someone could be tempted to call one of the biggest upsets but the manner in which Bangladesh outclassed India at Port-of-Spain in 2007 World Cup, came with a touch of the inevitable. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, now the captain but the ‘go-to’ bowler of Habibul Bashar Sumon then laid the platform of the victory, bowling sensationally before the youth brigades put up an audacious cricket to turn a tricky chase into stroll, winning by five wickets.
The young brigades consisted of the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, who apart from Mushfiqur, even didn’t complete just one year to International cricket then. The trio scored half-centuries each, with Tamim particularly hogging the headline with a straight six off Zaheer Khan with sheer audacity that the shot went down to one of the most exciting shots in the World Cup cricket folklore.
Mashrafe’s 4-38, still his best figure in World Cup, was complemented by Tamim’s 51, Shakib’s 53 and Mushfiqur’s 56 not out as Bangladesh gunned down India’s 191, with utmost ease and scripted mighty neighbour’s exit from the group round.
Mashrafe, a young guy then, became the captain of the country while those young brigades whose combined age was just under 18 then now has been the pillar of Bangladesh cricket. That victory remains Bangladesh’s only victory against India in the World Cup as they lost two then in 2011 World Cup and in the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal.
The 2015 World Cup memory is still vivid in every Bangladeshi fans’ mind, particularly for the no-ball saga, which sparked widespread criticism and significantly dented the relationship between the fans of the two teams, at least in the social media outlet.
Bangladeshi fans still believe that Rohit Sharma was out on that particular delivery off Rubel Hossain but the third umpire gave the verdict in India’s favour.
However that story is past now as the Tigers remain focused on the present in which their 2019 World Cup in on the line and they need to win consecutive two matches against India and Pakistan to make case for the semifinal stronger.
Even though there will still be ifs and buts particularly for England’s victory over India, the Tigers will want to make the first job done by beating India in Tuesday’s game at the Edgbaston in Birmingham.
And for it, they need their senior players to stand tall much like the 2007 World Cup. Can the quartet bring back that performance?
Captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza who was the man of the match in that match was now out-of-form as he claimed just one wicket in six games, which is now the topic of debate. But the 2007 rookie now the senior pro-Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal have been in good from. Shakib particularly is in the form of his life, creating milestone after milestone and some unique records.
He became the first player in World Cup history with 1000 runs and 30 wickets and also became the first player with 400+ runs and 10+ wicket in a single edition of World Cup. Such was his impact that, he remains the third highest run-getter in the ongoing tournament with 476 runs and could well surpass the tally of David Warner (516) and Aaron Finch (504) to reclaim the top spot again.
