Asia Cup | India-Bangladesh: Low-stakes encounter, yet the match could be spicy
Bangladesh will try their best to seek ‘revenge’, while India will look to test bench strength and spruce up the armoury before a series of big games
For various reasons, none of them cricketing, India weren’t the most popular team in Sri Lanka for a long time. All that changed with one stroke, from Dinesh Karthik, five-and-a-half years ago.
At stake was the 20-over triangular series for the Nidahas Trophy. Ill-tempered Bangladesh had put out the host nation at the league phase, their victory over Sri Lanka in an acrimonious league tie triggering waves of anger and outrage in a largely docile, happy country. Sri Lankans didn’t take kindly to Bangladesh’s overt and misplaced aggression which translated into unsavoury gestures. The glass door outside the Bangladesh dressing room lay shattered at the end of the game, though in the absence of videographic evidence, the guilty party was never officially identified.
The demographic around the R Premadasa Stadium is such that India hardly attracted favouritism. Indeed, when they played Pakistan at the ground, it was almost like a home game for the men from across the border. On 18 March 2018, though, the entire stadium united as one to cheer for India, desperate for them to put it past Bangladesh.
Tension building up
By then, India-Bangladesh clashes had acquired an edge and needle of their own, exacerbated by events at the 2015 World Cup when Bangladesh felt Rohit Sharma was out of a full toss, which the umpire ruled above the waist and therefore a no-ball. Rohit went on to smash 137, setting up India’s comprehensive 109-run win in the quarterfinal. A year late, in Bengaluru, Bangladesh celebrated prematurely when they needed two to win with three balls remaining in a T20 World Cup league fixture, only for India to pull off a heist with wickets off those three balls.
That was the backdrop against which the weight of two nations rested on Karthik in the final of the Nidahas Trophy. Nettled that Rohit had pushed him down to No. 7, Karthik was bristling as it is when he walked out with 34 needed off 18 deliveries. His pyrotechnics brought the equation down to five off the last ball, to be bowled by Soumya Sarkar.
The DK Effect
A flat drilled over cover for six sent the 35,000 at the Premadasa, not to mention millions in India, into raptures. The way India were perceived changed dramatically after that and even today, Sri Lankans can’t stop talking about Karthik. Not just here in Colombo and elsewhere in Sri Lanka, but also in other parts of the world where, when they see him discharging his commentary duties, they walk up to him to thank and congratulate him.
Who can forget that last-ball six by Dinesh Karthik?
For the first time since that memorably emotional night, India and Bangladesh will square off at the Premadasa in a relatively low-stakes encounter at the Asia Cup. The final match of the Super Fours will be of little more than statistical relevance as far as the tournament is concerned – India are through to Sunday’s title clash, Bangladesh have been eliminated after two successive losses – but viewed against the immediate long-term, there is still plenty to gain for both teams.
The last time India and Bangladesh met in a One-Day International series was in December last year, when Bangladesh scored an excellent 2-1 victory on home soil. With a little more enterprise and drive, India should have prevailed 3-0, but as they took their foot off the pedal in the first two matches, the hosts cashed in excellently. Chastened and humbled, India hit back with a vengeance in the dead rubber through Ishan Kishan’s magical 210, scored at the top of the order as he and Virat Kohli added 290 for the second wicket.
Changes galore
Much has changed in the nine months since that showdown. Kishan has dropped down to the middle order to accommodate Shubman Gill as Rohit’s opening partner; on Tuesday against Sri Lanka, Rohit and Gill brought up 1,000 runs as a pair in just their 12th innings together, an all-time Indian record. Kishan, meanwhile, seems to have slotted nicely into the middle order, having already showcased his aggression and his restraint in the Group A match against Pakistan and the Super Four tie against Sri Lanka respectively.
With so much cricket and travel to come over the next nine weeks, India will contemplate changes to their XI. They say it’s never too wise to change a winning combination, but conventional wisdom will have to take a back seat in this instance. It’s imperative to make sure the faster bowlers, especially, remain fresh for the challenges in store; it’s equally essential to give the bench a run-around so that they retain their competitive instincts.
Among those on the bench are Mohammed Shami and Shreyas Iyer, for entirely different reasons. Shami has been forced to sit out – ‘dropped’ is too harsh a word for a paceman of his pedigree – because India have chosen to use an all-rounder at No. 8. He played against Nepal when Jasprit Bumrah went on brief paternity leave and will, in all likelihood, get a go on Friday, though it remains to be seen if the same will be the case with Iyer.
The Iyer conundrum
Before the Asia Cup, the 28-year-old Mumbaikar’s previous representative match was in March; the following month, he underwent surgery in London on his back, a body part that has troubled him no end in the last year and a bit. After carefully monitored rehab, Iyer arrived in Sri Lanka looking to re-establish his No. 4 credentials, but his tournament has lasted just nine balls so far. Back spasms on the eve of the toss in the Super Four clash against Pakistan threw KL Rahul a lifeline and there are very few games between now and the start of India’s World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8. If the team management desires to continue to keep the faith in the right-hander, Iyer must prove his fitness and form immediately.
The good news is that on Thursday morning, he batted for 45 minutes at optional nets; now, to hope that he pulls up fine and stays so at the time of the toss so that India at least have the option of deciding whether to field him.
Despite their confirmed status as finalists, India won’t take anything for granted. Even without Mushfiqur Rahim, one of their stalwarts, Bangladesh will come out all guns blazing, given they have nothing to lose. How spicy will this contest be? And how many will turn up at the Premadasa?
