Cricket World Cup underdog darlings Bangladesh will face giant neighbours India on Thursday in the 2015 Cricket World Cup quarter-finals. Dileep Premachandran breaks down how they match up before they meet.
Key men
India
Virat Kohli: When Kohli goes big, India usually win: 20 of his 22 ODI centuries have resulted in victories. In six matches against Bangladesh, he has three hundreds. He started both the 2011 and 2015 World Cups with hundreds. The opposition in 2011? Bangladesh.
Mohammed Shami: Only Mitchell Starc (16) has taken more wickets than Shami (15) in this competition. After an indifferent Test series, Shami’s renaissance has been integral to India’s unbeaten run. The vicious bouncer to Younis Khan in the opening game set the tone for an attack that has now bowled out the opposition in six straight games.
Bangladesh
Mushfiqur Rahim: The pint-sized Mushfiqur has been Bangladesh’s best batsman for years now. Technically sound, unflustered and capable of both finesse and force.
Shakib Al Hasan: Tillakaratne Dilshan may have replaced him at the top of the ICC’s all-rounder rankings, but Shakib remains central to Bangladesh’s plans, with 186 runs and seven wickets in the tournament so far. His experience of playing in front of big crowds in the IPL will come in handy at the MCG, too.
India will win if ...
They play to their potential. The tournament has yet to see the best of Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja earned a rare public rebuke from MS Dhoni after the patchy run chase against West Indies. He hasn’t been great with the ball either. Kohli hasn’t crossed 50 since his ton against Pakistan, and if these three bring their “A” game, India are unlikely to lose.
Bangladesh will win if ...
They bowl as well as they did at Port of Spain in March 2007. Mashrafe Mortaza took 4 for 38 that day, but is now at least a couple of yards slower. Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed have the pace, and Shakib has provided slow-bowling guile, but can a team that conceded more than 300 hope to stop this Indian line-up?
Key numbers
15
The number of games India have now won in a row at global 50-over tournaments.
3
The number of times Bangladesh have beaten India in 28 matches dating back to 1988. Encouragingly though, two of those wins have come in major tournaments (2007 World Cup and 2012 Asia Cup).
4
The number of hundreds Indian batsmen have made in this World Cup. Kumar Sangakkara alone has matched that.
Pitch
A huge outfield that’s hard to defend, and a drop-in pitch that has seen plenty of runs. Australia, India and Sri Lanka have comfortably defended 300-plus scores at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in this tournament, but the last two sides that failed to reach 300 both lost.
Our verdict
Barring the upset of the tournament, India will go through. Their pre-World Cup form may have been patchy, but they have shown since that there is such a thing as big-tournament pedigree. They have won six straight without their batsmen firing on all cylinders. Bangladesh’s best hope is to bowl India out cheaply and chase down a target, as they did in 2007.
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