Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-With the threat of a shocking series defeat looming large, the under-pressure India will aim to come out all guns blazing as they meet an upbeat Bangladesh in the second One-day International on Sunday.
After being comprehensively thrashed by 79 runs in the opening match of the three-match series, India for the first time are staring at the ignominy of a series defeat against the proverbial minnows of world cricket. The match will take place in the backdrop of an unseemly controversy that resulted in skipper MS Dhoni being docked 75 percent of his match fees, reports the Press Trust of India.
The road to redemption for India might be a bit more tougher than was expected as several factors stand in their way of clawing back to keep the series alive by winning on Sunday.
The first and foremost is Bangladesh's performance of late. If anyone thought that making it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup was a fluke, they were proved completely wrong by Mashrafe Mortaza and his bunch of talented youngsters as they whipped Pakistan 3-0 at home. Two days ago, they crushed a full- strength Indian side fair and square in what was a lopsided contest for the better part of the match.
The second factor, equally significant, is Indian skipper Dhoni’s form. He has been below his best for well over a year and the tag of 'Captain Cool' seems a bit misplaced now. Dhoni can consider himself lucky that his 'Level-2' offence of shoving debutant Mustafizur Rahman did not result in a two-match suspension, which would have effectively ended the series for him.
More importantly, Dhoni would like to look back as to what exactly is going wrong with his batting. An innings of 85 in a win against a below-par Zimbabwe attack in the World Cup and a 65 while delaying the inevitable defeat against Australia in the semifinals have been his only two notable contributions of late.
Statistics show that Dhoni's strike-rate against left-arm spinners has dropped down to around 66 in the four years after the 2011 World Cup victory. More importantly, when a left-arm spinner is in operation, it takes him 32 balls to hit a boundary. No wonder he struggled against Shakib Al Hasan.
Apart from his own struggle, Dhoni as a captain needs to ensure that his team raises its game to prevent an upset series defeat.
There is a possibility that the weather could play a spoilsport again and India would be praying for a full match in order to get the result they desire.
Shikhar Dhawan had a poor outing in the first match but his form of late has been good and the left-hander would like to continue from where he left in the Test match at Fatulla with a big hundred.
Rohit Sharma is a man of big hundreds and double hundreds when it comes to ODI cricket and he would not like to throw it away, as he did in the first match when he looked set for another three figure mark.
Test captain Virat Kohli's ODI figures are phenomenal but his current lean patch in limited-overs cricket is his first in the last five years. He would like to get a big innings to get his form back. Ajinkya Rahane can be as dangerous as a Dhoni or a Kohli and would be licking his wounds after his failure in the first match.
However, for India the most important aspect would be to ensure that their bowling unit performs its job better than they did in the first match. The pacers were taken to the cleaners by the Bangladeshi top-order, and they would be keen to redeem themselves.
Umesh Yadav's inconsistency is baffling since he has been a regular feature for more than a season now. His inconsistency in hitting the right line cost India dearly in the first match. Mohit Sharma has been Dhoni's trusted third pacer for some time now but he didn't look the part during the match, being blasted for more than 50 runs in less than five overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's sharp drop in pace from low 130s kmph to the mid-120s kmph mark also has added to Dhoni's woes. This leaves India with Ravichandran Ashwin as their main strike bowler.
It was because of Ashwin and partially Suresh Raina that India were able to restrict Bangladesh to 307 instead of a score close to 350, which looked quite possible at one stage.
Bangladesh have improved a lot in ODI cricket in recent times, with a nice blend of experience and youth.
The quartet of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and captain Mashrafe Mortaza form the core. But they have unveiled some serious talents in opener Soumya Sarkar and left-arm paceman Mustafizur Rahman. Rahman has impressed everyone with his variations and change of pace, which troubled every Indian batsman.
SQUADS:
INDIA (FROM): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Bhuvneshar Kumar, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Axar Patel, Stuart Binny.
BANGLADESH: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Rony Talukdar, Mominul Haque, Arafat Sunny.
BBN/SK/AD