The ill-timed lonesome test match is over and all the excitement is shifted to the three one-dayers to be played between India and Bangladesh. Excited?
Looking forward to some interesting cricket since the minnows (read: Bangladesh) have grown up and becoming a challenge in the local neighbourhood?
Well, next few days will prove how big a challenge they are if challenge is the right word to be used in their context, that is! What’s more interesting is that there are some surprises in store and the best surprise is that this India Bangladesh series will not benefit India at all!
Let’s share how this did happen:
1) Right now India is place at the second place and the gap between leading side Australia and India is quite huge. Therefore even a 3-0 win over Bangladesh will not help India to reach the top of the charts!
2) On the other hand, even if Bangladesh loses the series 2-1, they would still qualify to participate in the 2017 Champions Trophy from June 1-19 in England and Wales! Only way they can lose out on the chance is if they lose 3-0 and lag behind West Indies with both the teams tied at 88 points, but the Caribbean team leading on the eight spot!
3) For India, a 2-1 loss would mean we equal the points with New Zealand but still lie under them given how excitingly they are playing against England right now!
4) While Virat Kohli is on fourth spot on the list of best batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan is at 7th spot and M.S. Dhoni is at 9th spot!
5) Coming to Dhoni, this will really test his equation with Virat Kohli. After taking over test captaincy and right during the test match conference, Virat gave a statement that the era of learning is over and it is time to play to win the test matches! This is stark opposite to what Dhoni has been saying for all these years about learning from every game and taking home the lessons to prepare for next game.
Virat’s aggressive attitude and change in body language was clearly visible during the match and his approach towards the game might come across as contradictory to Dhoni’s style of captaincy! Can they work on it or will it create internal secret feuds?
There can be many more surprises going into the game, but we really hope that things remain smooth and beneficial for the ultimate benefit of the game.
Let the best team win. However, we really wished if this series mattered to India more than it matters to Bangladesh!
No ways we are saying that the team should be taken lightly, but then our cricketing heroes got to play some difficult teams to come out shining rather than taming the minnows!
Let the game begin and with that, the fun!
