And lo and behold! The World cup is here already. After 8 years! The ICC has announced after much deliberation that the 2007 World Cup did not happen. So Australia are still looking for their third consecutive title, India are yet to lose to Bangladesh in a World Cup game and Bob Woolmer is still alive. Ok none of that is true. But this time we can get it right. As long as Australia don't win again, India don't lose again to Bangladesh and Bob Woolmer does not die again, the tournament will be considered more successful than the last. Given that one of those three outcomes is extremely unlikely (Australia winning, of course), we can be sure this tournament will be a bit less of a drag than the last one.
For those with the ability to pretend that the first month of the World Cup is of any consequence, it is a time of great excitement! Two groups of 7 each. Of which, there are 4 who have only recently figured out the difference between the meat and the handle of the bat. And of the rest, 8 will go through to the knockout phase. 8 among the 9 test playing nations and Zimbabwe. And just in case the teams don't get warmed up enough playing 6 league games before the knockouts start, there was an extra week of warm-up games. Considering that people with about the same IQ as those who approve of 7-match ODI bilateral series design the format for the World Cups, it really isn't that surprising.
Having said all of this though, there is something about the India-Bangladesh curtain raiser that warrants special mention. No one needs any reminding of the circumstances in which India were kicked out of the WC last time round. If Bangladesh could have been considered a banana peel, India slipped on it quite spectacularly. In general, people who slip on banana peels are generally embarrassed. India took the art of banana slipping to unknown levels. By running as fast as they could (knowing that the banana peel had been put there for them), they did a somersault and landed with inch-perfect precision on the peel. And then slipped on it again while trying to get up and ripped their trousers in the process. All in all, it was a rather forgettable episode.
If Bangladesh were at banana-peel levels of slippability then, they have attained the status of a newly waxed floor by now. Slightly harder to avoid. You have to wear the right kind of shoes and what not. They recently proved that in home conditions, an ODI victory against a fellow test nation isn't the cricket equivalent of a Haley's comet viewing anymore. They trashed fellow basement dwellers New Zealand 4-0 (and it wasn't 5-0 only because one of the matches was washed out). Certainly a team not to be taken lightly anymore.
When asked about the challenge of facing Bangladesh, the newly anointed 'Obama of cricket' was quick to resort to the "Well of course, we will not be complacent" kind of reply that made for rather boring reading. Which is why the same question was then asked to Sehwag. If Dhoni offered a dour dead-bat, Sehwag closed his eyes, left his crease and swung wildly at it, as is his wont. He explained that he was looking forward to this "revenge" match. What a guy! Coming from the same person who had gone on to call them an "ordinary" opposition not-so-long ago, it was a typical Sehwagism, for the lack of a better term. The episode was doubly great to follow because this was the same guy who had started the procession 4 years ago by chopping a Mortaza delivery on to his stumps, resulting in a boom on the market for Sehwag-shaped flammable effigies. But now the time for talking is well and truly over as the action shifts to Mirpur for the opening game.
The one key player whose services Bangladesh are likely to miss is that very Mortaza who had played a key part in that victory 4 years ago. Although Bangladesh have some honest seamers playing for them, they are definitely going to miss the nip with which he operated, not just in the match against India but through the rest of the tournament as well. Although their army of left-arm spinners will prove effective against teams not renowned for playing spin well (and will undoubtedly be a source of many nightmares for Kevin Pietersen), to win the World Cup, they will need to get past the subcontinental teams and that is where they might face an issue. Their bowling attack is eerily similar to India's 1970's test attack when Gavaskar and Solkar were used to take the shine off the new ball just so the real bowlers could start bowling. Having said that, after the warm-up games, India's current pace attack have not quite distinguished themselves either. However, with Zaheer Khan back and due to some more variety in the bowling attack, India are definitely the better bowling team.
Where batting is concerned, India are the outright winners on paper but as we have seen in the past, that can count for very little. However, due to the sheer firepower at India's disposal, this could prove to be a lineup that's a bit too strong for Bangladesh to overcome. What is good to see is stability at the top of the order and the sheer brutality of Yusuf Pathan in the middle. He might be troubled by the really quick bouncer, but Bangladesh don't have anyone to test him and spinners stand as much of a chance against him as a bunch of sausages in a doghouse.
It is very hard to imagine anything other than a comfortable Indian victory in this one. Of course, all of India want their team to not only beat Bangladesh but also make every team member run 20 rounds of the ground and do 50 push-ups for good measure. As Sehwag rightly said, this is a "revenge" match. There could have been no better game to signal the beginning of the World Cup!
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