India vs Bangladesh: Once divided, united they now stand

Bowling coach Heath Streak has been instrumental in Bangladesh’s turn around. (Source: AP)

As you scroll down the Wikipedia page on the Bangladesh cricket team, all the way to the ‘world records’ subsection, you encounter a most embarrassing list of stats about the Tigers in the first decade of the millennium.

Most consecutive Test defeats; most consecutive Test series defeats; most consecutive One-day International defeats; most consecutive ODIs without victory; most number of times that a team have been bowled out for 100 or less in an ODI innings; only Test side which have lost the first ODI they have played against five non-Test sides; most ODI losses by a Test team to Associates sides; most T20I losses by a Test team to Associates sides.

The first positive ‘world record’ about Bangladesh comes way down, and it’s an individual one. Mohammad Ashraful holds the record for… It’s followed by the personal achievements of Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan.

Wikipedia is not gospel, but it paints a fairly accurate picture. Bangladesh cricket, till recently, was predominantly about individual performances. It’s only in this decade — in fact, over the last two-three years — that they have begun to click as a team. And success has stoked the hunger for more success. It’s not a ‘most’ yet, not by a long mile, but Bangladesh have strung together a creditable streak: They have now won nine one-dayers on the bounce at home. On Sunday, Mortaza and his men will look to make it 10 out of 10 when they face a smarting India in the second of the three-match series.

Deeply hurt

And India haven’t looked this hurt after a loss in a while. In fact, the very word “hurt” has since been uttered by MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, and it was writ large on Rohit Sharma’s face as he came to the pre-match media conference on Saturday.

“They have got nothing to lose. India have everything to lose,” he said. He is right about India, but not quite so about Bangladesh.

A maverick plays with the ‘nothing-to-lose’ attitude. Bangladesh are not mavericks anymore. They now are a very good team who stand on the cusp of being acknowledged as such. A series win against India would get them that deserved recognition. Therefore, a fair assessment from Rohit would have been: ‘Bangladesh have everything to gain. India have everything to lose.’

The pre-match scenario not unlike a there-and-thereabouts player finding himself two sets up against Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam. He needs to convert that crucial break point in the third to jump to the next level. A slip here and the momentum shifts. And it shifts right across to the other side of the court, where an arguably better-skilled and more experienced player is waiting to make full use of it.

Extra careful

India will be waiting for Bangladesh to make mistakes on Sunday, while trying to eliminate their own. “We have to be extra careful in what we do. We understand that coming to their territory we expected them to play this way. But that is no excuse. As professionals we should be aware of the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses. I am sure we will be more prepared in the next game,” Rohit added.

The visitors certainly trained earnestly on Saturday. It began with the usual game of football, but the playfulness was absent. It was as if they wanted to get over with it fast and get to the nets. Then, during the batting practice, India’s fielding coach R Sridhar, a former left-arm orthodox bowler, was seen giving throwdowns to the batsmen, in an attempt to prepare them for Mustafizur Rahman, the left-arm pacer who took five wickets in the first match.

In the first encounter, Dhoni & Co. were hustled by an aggressive Bangladesh, who bowled a fair amount of bouncers. They are planning to hit back, Rohit revealed.

“We have to be aggressive; by aggressive I mean we do not mind bowling bouncers at them whenever it’s required. We need to understand their batters’ weaknesses. We have played quite a bit against them, the bowlers have a clear picture in their mind as to what their weaknesses are. We just need to exploit that.”

Up against a determined India, then, it will be Bangladesh’s biggest test. In that nine match winning streak at home, Bangladesh won five against Zimbabwe, three against a work-in-progress Pakistan team and one against a complacent India. On Sunday, they face a radically different opposition. The Tigers stare back at a cornered tiger. Their coach the Sri Lankan Chandika Hathurusingha will hope his wards slay the beast whilst they can.

“A lot of things have to fall into place for us to win because India is a very very strong team,” Hathurusingha said. “We haven’t taken the eye of what their strength is. It all depends on how we play tomorrow. If we play to our strength and if India play below par, we will win.”
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