The lay Indian fan of a recent vintage might not be as affected, but to those who were seriously invested in the fortunes of Indian cricket more than a decade and a half back, the very mention of Bangladesh will trigger nightmarish visions.
Like they had every time since their unexpected triumph at the 1983 World Cup in England, India attracted strong favouritism going into the 2007 edition in the Caribbean. And with good reason. There was a profusion of experience, matched by the exuberance of youth. There was a rounded look to the side under Rahul Dravid which carried form into the tournament, though Sachin Tendulkar’s displeasure at being asked to bat in the middle order against his will was hardly a secret.
India’s campaign was doomed right from the off, from the time Dravid opted to bat in their Group B opener against Bangladesh in Port of Spain. The celebrated batting line-up struggled for fluency on a sluggish surface exploited beautifully by the young and unheralded Bangladeshi attack, with only Yuvraj Singh showing any fluency. Sourav Ganguly laboured for 129 deliveries in making 66 and India’s 191 was decidedly below par, though hope still abounded at the break, given the all-round strength of the Indian attack.
Those hopes quickly evaporated as Tamim Iqbal, only 18 at the time, launched a stunning onslaught against Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar. India were rocked, taken aback by the audacity and the unexpected riposte. They waited for Bangladesh to implode, for their inexperience to surface, but Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, 19 and 20 respectively, ground out half-centuries to take their team to a famous five-wicket victory. It was a win that left India teetering on the brink of first-round elimination, an outcome that was formalised when the favourites went down to Sri Lanka a week later.
That shock result was precisely that – a shock, against all odds. It wasn’t a foretaste of what was to come because India have pretty much lorded the rivalry, winning 32 of the 41 games between the teams. Since that game, Bangladesh haven’t defeated India in an ICC event though they have run them awfully close more than once in T20 World Cups. And yet, there is always a frisson, of excitement, if not nerves, when an India-Bangladesh clash comes around at a global competition.
The current Indian team won’t dwell too much on that result nearly 18 years back, nor on their underwhelming display at the T20 World Cup in 2021 at this same venue, when they kick off their Champions Trophy engagements against Bangladesh in Dubai. Three and a half years ago in the T20 showpiece event, India lost their opener to Pakistan – their only loss to their neighbours in World Cups – by ten wickets and tumbled out of the reckoning after being bested a week later by New Zealand. They don’t have happy memories of Dubai, where they also failed to advance to the final of the T20 Asia Cup in 2022, but every tournament is an opportunity, a chance to set the record straight, at least from an outside perspective even if that isn’t the chat within the team.
Bangladesh haven’t been a formidable 50-over force for a while now. They finished eighth at the last World Cup and barely qualified for the Champions Trophy and have now slipped to No. 9 in the ICC team rankings. But they find ways to lift themselves when it comes to India, evidenced by three victories in their last five showdowns.
It will be up to old guards Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to fuel India’s charge at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The skipper averages 56.14 from 17 ODIs against the Bangladeshis, fuelled by three hundreds and as many fifties, while his predecessor boasts even more impressive figures – 910 runs in 16 innings at 75.83, embellished by five centuries and three half-tons. After underwhelming outings in Australia, Rohit found touch with a fabulous 119 against England ten days back while Kohli warmed up for the Champions Trophy with a half-century against the same opponents a week ago. In arguably their last 50-over global tournament together, they will be mindful of ensuring that there are no misfortunes of the kind that befell their predecessors in 2007, or their own selves in 2021 in Kohli’s last white-ball outing as the Indian captain.
Rohit’s dynamism at the top of the order has been one of the reasons for the big scores India have piled up in the last two years. It has also allowed Kohli to bat at a pace slightly less frenetic than the rest of his colleagues. Not quite fire and ice, but the perfect recipe for India to cook up a storm. A desert storm.
