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| Musfiqur Rahim |
Virender Sehwag was the slayer when last these two teams met at the
very same venue in Mirpur in the 2011 World Cup opener. The dashing
right-hander is not here this time but India still have enough firepower
in their arsenal to demoralise any attack, especially when the pitches
at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium are tailor-made for the batsmen.
India
already flexed their considerable muscles in the first game against Sri
Lanka riding on the exploits of Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, whose
unbeaten hundred was overshadowed by his senior (Virender Sehwag)
partner's mesmerising effort in the World Cup match. And not to forget,
master batsman Sachin Tendulkar is waiting on a monumental landmark, and
without any doubt the conditions are perfect for him to end the long
wait for the hundredth international hundred.
So in reality, only
a disciplined effort in both the bowling and batting departments from
Mushfiqur Rahim's men can ensure a good match today. There is however a
big difference between today and the World Cup encounter, as there is
little hype and expectation surrounding today's Asia Cup battle compared
to that match more than a year ago as many had been expecting a win
against a formidable India after Bangladesh's victory in the 2007 World
Cup. That may have been the reason Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur toned
down his responses while talking to the reporters in the pre-match press
conference yesterday; even though they have won only two of their 23
clashes against India, the Tigers have built a reputation of playing
well against their neighbours.
“The win or loss doesn't matter
too much if you consider our strength as a team; rather the important
thing is whether we can play consistently good cricket against the big
opponents like India,” observed Mushfiqur.
It was clearly evident
that the little man was concerned with the strong Indian batting line-up
rather than their bowling, but he was however excited with the fact
that Bangladesh have generally put up a good fight against India in
previous encounters.
“What I personally feel is that India's
bowling is not as strong as Pakistan's and Sri Lanka's, so it gives us
some sort of confidence. And another thing is that our performance
against India has not been bad at all, we always got a good start
against them,” explained Mushfiqur recalling the good memories against
the Indians.
The wicket-keeper batsman thus threw the challenge to
his bowlers. And what he hinted was that Bangladesh may play with an
unchanged squad which lost the close battle against Pakistan in the
tournament opener. Bangladesh preferred three pacers in the first game
mainly because of the new rule of their being two new balls from each
end in ODIs, and also because spinners are getting hardly any assistance
from the pitch. But if the home team finally go with two pacers then
the axe will likely fall on Shahadat Hossain despite his success in the
first game.
“ There is always a need of an attacking bowler like
Shahadat who can take wickets and I think he did his job in the first
match, and you know on this kind of wicket the spinners have to bowl the
right line and length. We have a plan and hopefully we can execute it
tomorrow,” said confident Mushfiqur.
Mushfiqur also believed that
he as the captain and Mahmudullah Riyad as vice-captain should step up
today if they want to do something against the Indian team. “We must
play as a unit and everybody should do their duty if we want to play
good cricket against them,” opined Mushfiqur.
Of course, no discussion on a match involving India could be complete without mention of the possibility of Tendulkar's century.
“Like
many other fans I also want his hundred in this tournament but
definitely not against us. We will try to send him back early,” said
Mushfiqur with a smile.
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