By Suryakumar Yadav’s definition of rivalry, India-Bangladesh contests should be no rivalry at all. India have bossed their neighbours to the west as they had those in the east in T20Is. The 17 contests have yielded a solitary victory for Bangladesh. It’s a pantomime rivalry, never blossoming into a full-fledged battle of equals, despite the niggles, fractured diplomacy, sporadic upsets and several hostile flashpoints that eventually fizzled out.
The echoes of a mismatch ring aloud on the eve of their latest encounter too. India’s assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate was kinder in his assessment of Bangladesh. “We respect Bangladesh. I think they have a solid variety. They’ve kind of adapted their cricket to the new style of T20,” he said. But India are undefeated, swaggering and riding the wave of buoyancy after grounding every team to dust. Bangladesh are still feeling the pulse of the ever leaping format, a team unable to identify their USP. The reliance on left-arm spinners has gone; the surge of quicks has flatlined. The latest obsession is big-hitting batsmen, yet none this series has managed a strike rate of 130 plus. Their great gift is the diversity of their bowlers.
A young gangly left-arm seamer, another worldly-wise left-arm seam merchant, a street-smart right-arm quick, a tall left-arm spinner. a skiddy leg-spinner or a brisk off-spinner—Bangladesh’s is the most unique cast of bowlers, though not the most intimidating, India’s batsmen would have faced in this Asia Cup. Their diverse angles, the trajectories and pace variation could test India, a trifle over dependent on Abhishek Sharma’s turbocharged starts.
The lead act, as has been for nearly a decade, is Mustafizur Rahman. Overcoming an inconsistent phase, his flappy wrist has regained its snap, which can twist nearly 90 degrees. He could make the ball jump and stop viciously at batsmen. There perhaps is no better exponent of the cutters than him in contemporary cricket when the ball has turned old. The batsmen end up spooning the drive-length balls to covers.
Bangladesh’s Shamim Hossain jumps to celebrate after their win against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup cricket match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. (Source: AP)
He is a familiar nemesis, but one that cannot be ignored, especially with his recent upswing of form (seven wickets at an economy rate of 7). Ten Doeschate dwelled on the threats he poses. “He’s been around a long time, and obviously a very skilful bowler. We know the skill sets that he brings. But I think for someone to do so well internationally over such a long time and obviously go to the IPL, you have to be skillful,” he said.
Mustafizur was Bangladesh’s architect in the defeat of Sri Lanka, snaring three wickets, two with his cutters, in the middle and death overs. If the surface grips, he could be a deadlier proposition, when the ball stopping at batsmen becomes more pronounced. Given India’s scrapes in the middle overs, a wobbly phase against Pakistan, Mustafizur and the contest between India’s shape-shifting middle-order could inject some intrigue. India’s middle-order, especially Sanju has been rickety when the surface gets tired. Tilak Varma, while belligerent against the seamers, gets bogged down when facing spinners that are experts in varying pace.
The other left-arm seamer Shoriful Islam, six-feet three, with slippery pace and the ability to shape the ball into the right-handed batsman would have watched Oman’s Faisal Ahmed rip out the off-stump of Shubman, defeated as much as by the inward curve of the ball as by the disobeying front foot. Gill was dismissive of Shaheen Afridi, but he barely found the shape and bend his in-swingers once had. Shoriful, plucked from the obscurity of Bangladesh’s Panchagarh district, he extracts bounce with his height, but his prized asset is tucking the ball back into the right-handed batsman. Browse the videos of his bursting through the defences of Reeza Hendricks and Mohammad Haris. But he has been erratic and wicketless this series.
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Sharing the new ball, three out of the four Asia Cup games has been Nasum Ahmed. A controversy magnet, who played the lead role in the slapgate incident involving former coach Chandika Hathurusingha, he generates bounce with his height and high-arm action, besides suffocating batsmen with his stifling lengths. Even though he has snaffled only two wickets, he has conceded only 5.87 runs per over this series. Bangladesh have alternated the leg-spinner Rishad Hossain and off-spinner Mahedi Hasan. Rishad has ample variations, though keeping a lid on the scoring is not his greatest gift. Mahedi is a standard off-spinner, but brings a lot of energy on the field and is a wind-up merchant who gets under batsmen’s skins.
Completing the bowling crew is Taskin Ahmed, who has lost the pace when he burst forth, but polished variations that continue to find him wickets. From a new-ball exponent, he has transformed into an all-weather seamer. Worryingly, though, most of them have hideous numbers against India. Taskin bleeds 7.93 runs an over against India; Shoriful has not only been wicketless against India, but also has cost 12.33 runs per over. Even the usually reliable Mustafizur has eked out only seven wickets in 13 games, besides an economy rate of 9.43. Hasan’s numbers too are unflattering (zero wickets in two games; ER of 9.12). Rishad has been the most expensive of them (14.11 and five wickets in four games).
The disparity in overall figures and against India captures the lop-sidedness of the rivalry. Bangladesh often play out of their skins when duelling Pakistan, but fail to turn up against India. Coach Phil Simmons, though, sounded defiant, even confident. “Every team has the ability to beat India. The game is played on the day. It’s not what India has done before. It’s what happens on Wednesday,” he said. But how many predecessors of his have uttered words to this effect and found the troops freezing against India.
The postMustafizur Rehman and Co can test India, but can Bangladesh hold their nerves? | Cricket News appeared first on Indian Express
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