4 runs needed off 10 balls with 5 wickets in hand as Munaf Patel was bowling to Mushfiqur Rahim and Rahim drove him between the mid-off and covers for a boundary and with that Bangladesh shocked the cricketing fraternity as they laid the foundation stone in knocking India out of the 2007 World Cup. India might have defeated the Bangla Tigers in 2011 edition but they will be itching to get revenge on that loss on a perfect fashion when both India and Bangladesh face-off each other in the second quarter-finals at the MCG on Thursday.
India are coming into the quarter finals with six wins out of six matches and will look to carry on the momentum in the knockouts. On the other hand, Bangladesh come into this quarters with nothing to lose and if they manage to beat the men in Blue, it will be a major point in the history of Bangladesh cricket. MS Dhoni’s boys won’t take their opponents lightly and on the other hand, the Bangladeshi boys high on confidence. An exciting quarter finals is at stake.
Mushfiqur Rahim celeberates his side’s win over India in the 2007 World Cup
Pitch and Weather
The temperature in Melbourne is very hot as the mercury measures 31 degrees. According to the local residents, there is a small possibility of some slight drizzles but the conditions will be windy. The wickets at the MCG is known to have some bounce and likely to support the bowlers early on and the batsman might cash in as the match goes on. So the team winning the toss should have no hesitation in batting first.
Road to Quarter Finals
|
Bangladesh (Pool A) |
Matches |
India (Pool B) |
|
Beat Afghanistan by 105 runs |
1st Match |
Beat Pakistan by 76 runs |
|
Match Abandoned |
2nd Match |
Beat South Africa by 133 runs |
|
Lost to Sri Lanka by 92 runs |
3rd Match |
Beat UAE by 9 wickets |
|
Beat Scotland by 6 wickets |
4th Match |
Beat West Indies by 4 wickets |
|
Beat England by 6 runs |
5th Match |
Beat Ireland by 8 wickets |
|
Lost to New Zealand by 3 wickets |
6th Match |
Beat Zimbabwe by 6 wickets. |
Head to Head:
India has the upper hand against Bangladesh as they have turned out victorious 24 times out of the 28 matches played between them. Bangladesh has won three and the remaining one was washed out.
Previous World Cup Encounters:
2007 World Cup, Port of Spain: Bangladesh won by 5 wickets.
2011 World Cup, Mirpur: India won by 87 runs.
Form Guide
Bangladeshi Tigers were on a roll coming into the quarters as they chased down 318 against Scotland and defeated England in a must-win match at Adelaide last week. Adding to this, Bangladesh also threatened New Zealand in their last group game at Hamilton. The batting has looked good courtesy Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim with the likes of Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan looked good in patches. However, the openers need to join the party soon if they got any chance against India. Tamim Iqbal have to score big runs against India as he did when the two teams did in the 2007 World Cup and put them under pressure straight away else Bangladesh will be in big trouble. Bowlers were in fine form as Mashrafe Mortaza, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan looked good throughout the tournament. The only area of concern will be their fifth bowlers’ quota. Mahmudullah, Soumya Sarkar, Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rahman will have to bowl those 10 overs without giving any runs.
Bangladesh will rely on Mahmudullah to score big
Best Batsmen
|
Bangladesh |
Team |
India |
|
Mahmudullah |
Batsman |
Shikhar Dhawan |
|
6 |
Matches |
6 |
|
6 |
Innings |
6 |
|
344 |
Total Runs |
337 |
|
86.00 |
Average |
56.16 |
|
82.89 |
Strike-Rate |
94.13 |
|
128* |
Highest Score |
137 |
India are coming into the quarters with 6 wins on the trot in the group stages as they demolished each and every team that came their way. India will look to fix the issues in their squad ahead of the knockouts. Their main headache is their opener Rohit Sharma, who is yet to fire in this tournament. It is very safe to say that he is saving his best for the knockouts, but it will worry for the team management till the runs flow from his bat. He might be unlucky in the previous matches, but at the end of the day, the number opposite to his name in the scorecard matters. He has scored just two fifties that too against UAE and Ireland and its high time that he begins to score a big one. Form of Ravindra Jadeja is also a concern for MS Dhoni and Co. as the All Rounder has been completely out of sorts in the knock out stages as he was the least effective of the Indian bowlers and even with the bat, he hasn’t delivered goods when he got a chance. But skipper MS Dhoni has trusted both Rohit and Jadeja as he said that their form is not a concern for Team India and backed them to do well in the Knock-Outs.
Can Mohammad Shami lead the wicket takers chart?
Best Bowler
|
Bangladesh |
Team |
India |
|
Shakib Al Hasan |
Bowler |
Mohammad Shami |
|
6 |
Matches |
5 |
|
6 |
Innings |
5 |
|
240 |
Runs Given |
189 |
|
7 |
Wickets |
15 |
|
34.28 |
Average |
12.60 |
|
5.03 |
Economy |
4.39 |
|
4/55 |
Best Bowling |
4/35 |
Team News
MS Dhoni does not have a habit of changing his team in a tournament unless for any injury scare. The defending Champions are in full strength and the team management won’t mind to go in with the same XI that played against Zimbabwe. But Bangladesh might be forced to make a change as their skipper Mashrafe Mortaza who missed the New Zealand match as a precaution will come in in the place of spinner Taijul Islam.
India will hope both Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja get back to their best when it matters the most.
Playing XI
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma.
Key to Success:
Bangladesh: If Bangladesh manages to get the Indian Top 4 as early as possible, then they are in with a real chance of making it to the semis.
India: If they bat first, India should put on over 300+ and put the opposition under pressure. If they bowl first, dismiss the Bangladeshi batsmen to a low score and expect the batsmen to chase it down.