DHAKA: Bangladesh and its big neighbor India are set to face in a battle to reach the semi-final of the ICC World Cup at Melbourne Thursday morning.
The much-awaited 2nd Quarter-Final of the tournament will kick off at Melbourne Cricket Ground at 9:30am Bangladesh time.
Nearly 160 million Bangladeshi along the Tigers’ supporters from are dreaming that the Tigers will thrash Team India out of World Cup, creating new history.
When the ICC fixed the knockout schedule, Bangladesh were not mentioned. The MCG was to host the England quarter-final, and if they didn't make it the team that did in their place would play at Australia's largest ground.
Bangladesh grabbed that spot with verve, handing England their return tickets after a clinical finish in Adelaide. They even came close to finishing third in their group. With the batsmen scoring consistently and all the bowlers contributing, Bangladesh are deservedly in the last eight.
Bangladesh's fielders struggled with the size of the MCG playing area against Sri Lanka, their first game at the ground. They dropped catches and they grappled with field placements. It was not a surprise that during practice for the quarter-final, fielders were made to charge in from the edge of the boundary to take catches, fire throws and understand the unique dimensions of the venue.
India's pace bowling in this tournament has been such a revelation that Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was considered integral to their chances, cannot find a place in the XI. In the last two games, however, there were periods when they struggled against the Ireland and Zimbabwe batsmen.
Mashrafe Mortaza missed Bangladesh's last group game against New Zealand, but will be back to lead the side. That would leave Arafat Sunny, Taijul Islam and Nasir Hossain fighting for the remaining spot. Nasir, who picked up two wickets against New Zealand, could be the favourite because he would strengthen the batting.
India talked about a sense of calm ahead of the big match. They are highly unlikely to disturb that with any alteration in the team, barring injury.
Teams
Bangladesh (probable)
1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4 Mahmudullah, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Sabbir Rahman, 8 Arafat Sunny/Nasir Hossain, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Taskin Ahmed
India (probable)
1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Umesh Yadav
BDST: 0755 HRS, MAR 19, 2015
