ASIA CUP 2018

What Bangladesh need to prioritise to challenge India

by Prakash Govindasreenivasan • Last updated on

The belief in the Bangladesh camp is that Mustafizur has put his shoulder injury behind him and has, in fact, started to bowl a lot quicker. © Getty

There's no two ways about the fact that India go into Friday's Asia Cupfinal as the absolute odds-on favourites. In fact, Bangladesh's passage till the very end - over teams like Afghanistan and Pakistan - has come as a surprise, even as they walk in with the reputation of being runners-up in 2016.

Bangladesh now have a chance at redemption, and an opportunity to bury the ghosts of the World T20s and the Nidahas Trophys where they simply couldn't put a lid on their jangling nerves and cross the finish line after coming so close.

For that though, they've got to get some of their priorities right, ahead of taking on a team that's operated on a completely different level from them, and all the other teams in the tournament.

Less Pakistan, more Afghanistan

For all the pre-tournament hype of multiple India-Pakistan games, neither of the two came close to satiating the hunger of the two obsessive fanbases in terms of contests. And that's primarily because a short-of-confidence, over-anxious Pakistan that kept tripping in a bid to overdo their plans, and ended up moving too far away from them. Their batting was abject in the first encounter, but their bowlers didn't cover themselves in glory either. The size of the opposition and the history of the rivalry got to them - even if their most recent accomplishment of beating India in the Champions Trophy final was expected to inspire.

Bangladesh, don't necessarily, have such lengthy, pointed rivalry against India. They've failed against them more recently, but that's had more to do with jangling nerves than anything to do with a past relationship. That's enough reason for Bangladesh bowlers to strictly stick to their briefs and not get cheeky.

If they turn in the other direction, Bangladesh will find a more focussed Afghanistan, who perhaps played the most entertaining cricket before bowing out. There's an aura of fearlessness to their game, and a genuine disregard for the size or reputation of their opposition. They're aware of exactly what their bowling strengths are - Rashid and Mujeeb - and have done well to create their bowling game around them. There's a straightforward lesson to pick from that, particularly in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan. Mustafizur Rahman and Mehidy Hasan are Bangladesh's best hopes for an upset, and need to be backed for a slightly longer first spell for a crack at an early wicket.

The belief in the Bangladesh camp is that Mustafizur has put his shoulder injury behind him and has, in fact, started to bowl a lot quicker. The mental block of carrying the shoulder injury and letting it hamper his bowling has also been overcome. He is one of the finest seamers around currently - so clearly demonstrated by his spell of 10-2-43-4 on Thursday - and holds the key in Bangladesh's bid to expose India's brittle and relatively untested middle order early on.

No 11-to-40 harakiri

Bangladesh's batting on Thursday provided them with the biggest lesson going forward. Against India in the Super Four, they managed 84 runs for the loss of 4 wickets through overs 11 and 40 and had absolutely no shot at defending their sub-200 total. Against Pakistan, however, that runs tally was nearly doubled (160) and the wickets halved - paving the way for a memorable victory.

There's enough evidence to suggest the first 10 overs against India aren't going to be easy by any stretch of imagination. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah will be a handful, and seeing out their first spells should be the most crucial plan discussed on the eve. Rohit Sharma has generally gone with Yuzvendra Chahal as his first-change bowler, who went wicketless against Bangladesh and Pakistan once. The leggie, though, may not have as deceptive a wrong 'un as the chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, and comes with an obvious plan of bowling full and wide outside the off-stump, so Bangladesh have to use his bowling in that 11 to 40 overs phase to lay the foundation of their essay. They will, however, have to be wary of LBW susceptibility against more wicket-to-wicket operators like Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav who will fire in balls at a flatter trajectory.

Cues from Mohammad Mithun

The matches in the Asia Cup have been a throwback to an era of 250-v-250 contests, where there's room for slow progress before a late tee-off. Twice Mohammad Mithun has come to his team's rescue when they've had a battered top-order and a helpless Mushfiqur fighting a lone battle. And that's all that teams need - one essay-defining big partnership. Against Sri Lanka, the pair put on 133 runs from 1 for 2, that allowed them to score 261. Against Pakistan, it was 144 between the pair that laid the foundation for 238. Further evidence was that Pakistan were only one such alliance short of making it to the final, as Imam-ul-Haq kept running out of partners. There was a 67-run stand with Shoaib Malik and a 71-run stand with Asif Ali, but both turned out to be inadequate.

If even one of the other top-order batters can show the composure and fight shown by Mithun, it might just be game on, on Friday (September 28).

© Cricbuzz

TAGS

RELATED STORIES