Tigers search for 'upset'

Bangladesh will look to keep their dim semi-final hopes alive with a win against India in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia today, a result which their captain Shakib Al Hasan has deemed to be an upset.

In group 2 of the ongoing tournament, both Bangladesh and India have four points from three matches. But India sit ahead of the Tigers on net run rate, which they have a positive one of 0.844 compared to Bangladesh’s negative 1.533.

In Twenty20 Internationals, Bangladesh have a very poor record against their neighbours as they have won just once in 11 times. That win came in 2019, when the Tigers, without Shakib who was missing due to his ban from the International Cricket Council, downed India by six wickets in Delhi.

Except for that, the picture is pretty bleak for Bangladesh. In T20 World Cups, Bangladesh faced India twice but failed to find two points from any of the games.

They went close in 2016 when they needed just two runs from the last three deliveries. But an astonishing collapse, which saw them lose a wicket in each of the deliveries, saw Bangladesh lose by an agonising margin of one run.

Such a poor run of results has made India the favourites in the tie, which Bangladesh skipper Shakib was not reluctant to agree to.

“India are the favourites. They have come here to win the World Cup. We are not the favourites; we did not come here to win the World Cup. We very well know that if we win, it will be an upset. We will try our best to make that happen,” Shakib said in the pre-match press conference in Adelaide on Tuesday.

But India head coach Rahul Dravid was all about respect before the match.

“I think we respect them a lot. I think they are a very good team. I think this format and this World Cup has really shown us that honestly, you can’t take any team lightly. We certainly don’t take Bangladesh lightly. Our preparation, our planning will be as meticulous as it was against South Africa at Perth. No different,” Dravid said.

While the pleasantries were exchanged with respect intact, the two teams will arrive at the tie in different moods. Bangladesh will be looking to follow up on their nerve-wracking win over Zimbabwe, while India are coming into the match following a defeat to table-toppers South Africa.

“You feel good after winning any match. There will always be more close matches in T20s as it is a shorter format. It’s important to hold on to our nerves. Previously, we were losing close ties. We have learnt to turn that around. I won’t say we have mastered it, but there is an improvement. Previously, we lost all close matches. We have started to win now,” Shakib said.

Statistical analysis has shown that Indian batters tend to lack their attacking thrust against left-arm spinners, and Shakib was asked whether they would bring a change in their XI to make space for Nasum Ahmed, which Shakib was vague about.

“We haven’t thought about it (team combination). You can make up the combination to your wish. It’s not like there is only one combination. You can make up the team combination in several ways,” he said.

Shakib said about fielding an extra pacer, “I have not thought much about the combination. I have talked a bit with the coach. But I haven’t thought about it much (playing four seamers). Actually, you have to think about a lot of things when you make up the XI. Whatever the team is, I am hopeful they will play well.

“We have an XI that won two matches. We tried something different in one match (against South Africa), and that did not work. Whether we will tend towards that, we don’t know. There are a lot of ifs and buts. We have to think about everything before deciding.”

One of Bangladesh’s biggest concerns will be Suryakumar Yadav, who has hit back-to-back fifties in their last two matches.

Shakib did not leave any stone unturned praising the Indian batter but said they will plan about everybody.

“He (Suryakumar) is probably India’s best batter in the last year or so in this format. We have to keep an eye on all of their world-class players. We haven’t done the team meeting yet. In the meeting, we will discuss everything. Yes, they have a phenomenal batting order. We have to overcome it to win,” the Bangladesh skipper said.

Adelaide remains a dear venue for Bangladesh because it was here where they knocked England out and qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2015 ODI World Cup.

There are only three members from that World Cup in the current squad (Shakib, Taskin Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar), but Shakib still believes that memory will inspire them.

“Maybe only Taskin and I from that team are here. It’s obviously a good memory. Good memories always inspire you. Hopefully, it will help us a bit mentally,” the Bangladesh skipper said.