Agency, Mirpur :
Gnawing memories of the World Cup controversy will take centre stage when India play Bangladesh in the first of the three one-day internationals at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium here on Thursday. The second leg of Team India’s tour of Bangladesh follows the weather-beaten one-off Test that ended in a damp draw at Fatullah.
On Thursday, it will be the first meeting between the two sub-continental neighbours since their controversy-marred World Cup quarter-final in Melbourne in March, which India won by 109 runs. Bangladesh were left fuming at what they reckoned was unfair umpiring, prompting Mustafa Kamal to resign as the president of the International Cricket Council alleging Indian bias.
The players have publicly stated they have moved on from the World Cup, but fans in Bangladesh can be expected to remind the tourists of how their team was at the receiving end in Australia. Hence, playing at home might be the best chance for the Bangla Tigers to beat India and take revenge of their World Cup ouster.
Bangladesh may have stayed poor in Tests but they have enjoyed considerable success in limited-overs cricket of late, having stunned England to make the World Cup quarter-finals in March before whitewashing Pakistan 3-0 at home a month later.
Taking this into consideration, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to select its first-choice ODI squad for the tour, turning down the request for a rest made by some of the senior players.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who never likes to mince his words, also said they expect a close contest when they clash with a fast-improving Bangladesh side on Thursday.
“Bangladesh are a very good ODI team. We aren’t taking them lightly,” the Indian captain said ahead of the first ODI.
India have lost only three of 29 ODIs played against Bangladesh, but senior batsman Suresh Raina refused to take victory for granted in the upcoming series.
Raina, who led an under-strength Indian side to a 2-0 win over Bangladesh last year, said his team had begun taking Bangladesh more seriously following their recent success.
“As you can see, we are fielding our best team despite the hectic schedule,” he said. “It shows how much importance we give to this series because it is not easy to beat Bangladesh now.”
However, the Indian players were happy that unlike the one-off Test last week, when more than nine sessions were lost due to rain, the ODI series has reserve days for all three games. If a match is abandoned or cannot be completed on the first day, play will resume the following day from the point where it stopped.
Pacers Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma trained hard a day before the first match and would like to continue their improved show. For young turk Axar Patel, the tour will be a chance to cement his place in the ODI squad.
Ravindra Jadeja, who was dropped from the Kohli-led Test team for this tour, will see this as an opportunity to claim his spot as the first choice allrounder back.
Team Director Ravi Shastri, who was present with the team during their final practice session on Wednesday, was seen giving some valuable tips to Raina and Dhoni. In all likelihood, Shastri would be made the coach of the Indian team after this series; however, he seems to have already eased himself into that role.
The Indian team carries one of the strongest batting line-ups in the world and openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma would be keen to provide some solid starts upfront. Dhawan, who slammed a splendid 173 at Fatullah, is a potent threat for the Bangladesh bowlers, especially on subcontinent tracks.
