Beware India!

Well for the second time in a world cup, India faced Bangladesh yesterday and the result was slightly better compared to what it was four years ago at West Indies where India lost the match by 5 wickets to attain a much win situation with matches against Sri Lanka and Bermuda still to go. Well that was four years down the lane and an unforgettable one for team India and Bangladesh as well but for the right reasons like India. In yesterday's game, India on the outlook looks as though they've got everything right until the end. But, my opinion stands otherwise.

India no doubt did everything right from the start with Virender Sehwag's another 175 by an Indian batsman knock but in a different situation compared to Kapil Dev's. A score of 370 on the board and a target of 371 no doubt speaks for itself. But, a margin of just 87 runs with such a huge target on the board also speaks for the lackluster in the bowling department. Finally, the Indian bowlers could not even take all ten Bangladeshi wickets. The Indian bowlers could take only 9 Bangladeshi wickets. India had a tough task defending a huge target in its very 1^st encounter.

One can go through India's match against Sri Lanka in the 1999 world cup where India first posted a massive target of 373 on the board and on the other hand did the same with the ball as well by getting the defending champions for 216 with the margin of victory being 157 runs. And, this time, Bangladesh was much worse outfit compared to Sri Lanka in 1999 that consisted of Chaminda Vass, Muralitharan, Jayasuriya, Desilva etc. Despite the presence of the experienced bowlers like Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, a total of 283/9 by Bangladesh is far from satisfactory one can say.

At one stage of the match, it was as though Bangladesh would do another upset on team India when at one stage they were 56/1 at the end of 7 overs with a run-rate of 8.0 an over which was followed by a 2^nd wicket partnership of 73 runs and a series of scores above 30 until Mushfiqur Rahim got out. It was fascinating to see the top five Bangladeshi batsmen get into double digits despite a demanding target set forth by India. It was the lower middle order and the tail end batsmen that failed for Bangladesh and spoiled their party. However, this should be a warning call for India who are to face South Africa and England in weeks to come.