Tamim headlines injury concerns

Bangladesh have worse results against other teams. They won only one of 21 matches against Australia and against Pakistan, they have won just five of 36. However, India remain the White Whale for the Tigers, not just because of a 5-29 win-loss ratio, but because in recent times India have been the one fish -- or mammal -- that got away despite Bangladesh having them in their grasp.

The most recent such example was the teams' last encounter, in the Asia Cup final in Dubai, last September. Centurion Liton Das and surprise opener Mehedi Hasan Miraz had the Indians on the ropes with a 120-run opening stand, but then Bangladesh imploded to 222 all out. They still showed fight to take the match to the last over, but were heartbroken again, again at the hands of India in a crunch game.

Before that, Bangladesh lost the Nidahas Trophy T20 final against India in Colombo when Dinesh Karthik hit Soumya Sarkar over cover for six off the last ball of the match. The 2016 World Twenty20 is perhaps the harshest as Bangladesh were dumped out of the tournament after needing just two runs to win from three balls, only for the three wickets to fall without a score being added. They had also lost the 2017 Champions Trophy semifinal and the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal against India, and the 2016 T20 Asia Cup final to India. In the ongoing World Cup too, with Bangladesh in a position where they have to win their next two matches to stand a chance of qualifying for the semifinals, the Tigers are faced with their white whale.

Having run a fine, praiseworthy World Cup campaign so far, if Bangladesh are to stand a chance of upstaging the form team of the tournament and gaining arguably the team's most prized scalp, there are a few areas they could look to shore up on.

Early wickets, calling Soumya and Fizz

This works both ways. Only once in their six matches in the ongoing World Cup -- in the match against New Zealand on June 5 -- have Bangladesh taken more than one wicket in the first 10 overs. Against India that could well be costly, especially if the likes of Rohit Sharma are allowed to settle in. Bangladesh have some inspiration to draw on from the World Cup warm-up game against India on May 28. Mustafizur Rahman opened the bowling, got the wicket of the now-injured Shikhar Dhawan and consistently troubled Kohli and Sharma with his pace and swing. However, his consistency has been a concern in the tournament proper and, if he does open the bowling, any loose balls will be punished by Sharma and KL Rahul -- who scored a century in the warm-up.

While most of the onus will be on Bangladesh's misfiring bowling attack, the challenge of playing India now is that they also have arguably the best bowling attack. Bangladesh's batting is their strong suit, but with their style of play -- gradually building towards a sizeable total rather than rocketing to it -- it is imperative that openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar give them a big start. The duo have been performing well -- early wickets have not been a feature of Bangladesh's batting since the tri-series in Ireland -- but with India's varied bowling attack, they have to absorb the pressure and put some of it back before passing the baton onto the in-form middle order headed by Shakib Al Hasan in red-hot form. While Tamim has not set the world alight, he still has 205 runs from six matches. It is Soumya, with 111 runs from six games, who has to step up next Monday.

L-R: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahman

Burst through fear of failure

After the Asia Cup final loss in 2018, skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had said in an interview that there had to be improvements in mental strength. He talked about how, even when the openers were building a strong stand, the fear of something bad happening was at the back of his mind. It can justifiably be said that if the mentally strong captain experienced this fear, then the rest of the team -- having gone through heartbreaks against India -- felt it too. He speculated that perhaps that fear was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The talk, on the record and off, has been to play the next two matches as one-offs and play the opponents as they come. If they can match up in skills with India on the day, it may well come down to staving off that fear when it comes to winning crunch moments.

Aaron Finch: Australia

If former Australia skipper Steven Smith and former deputy David Warner had not been handed a one-year ban in March last year following the infamous ‘sandpaper-gate scandal’ during a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town earlier that month, Australia could have had a different leader in this World Cup. Aaron Finch, who was not even the immediate successor -- only after Tim Paine’s five-match winless stint as captain was Finch called upon to take charge -- has already ensured that Australia were the first team to book a place in the semifinal, with two group matches in hand no less. Smashing two hundreds and three fifties, Finch is second on the top run getters’ list with 496 runs to his name. Inspired by a 116-ball 100 from Finch, Australia strolled past archrivals England in their most recent encounter to take their place atop the points table. If anyone seems to be in total control, it is undoubtedly Finch, who could also reach the finish line ahead of the pack.

Kane Williamson: New Zealand

Calm, collected and lethal at the same time, Kane Williamson steered New Zealand to a very commanding position in the World Cup. Up until a six-wicket defeat against Pakistan on Wednesday, the Kiwis remained unbeaten in their first six games. However, had it not been for Williamson, things could easily have been worse for the Black Caps. Chasing a modest 241 for six posted by South Africa, New Zealand faltered to four for 80 in the 19th over. And when Williamson got down on one knee and smashed an outside off a slower delivery from Andile Phehlukwayo over mid-wicket in the final over to bring up his ton, the 28-year old took off his helmet and made a simple gesture with his bat towards the pavilion while everyone had anticipated an animated jubilation for ensuring an eventual four-wicket win that would come off the next delivery with a boundary. Williamson’s calm nature indicated that he knew it was long from over and that he would keep on rescuing his team, just like he did in the next game with a 154-ball 148 against West Indies.

Virat Kohli: India

For a team where all the players seem to know their particular roles and have been delivering consistently for a considerable amount of time, often the skipper does not have to come up with something extraordinary as just playing his role becomes enough. India skipper Virat Kohli has not yet pulled off something extraordinary for his troops, who are yet to be defeated. While his four fifties in five games is an average display considering his own abilities, India’s stern grip at the top-three shows that Kohli is yet to take a wrong step in the flagship event.

Eoin Morgan- England

England skipper Eoin Morgan must be scratching his head and trying to figure out how they have landed in a situation where the hosts are now required to win the remainder of their two matches against India and New Zealand. While Morgan’s best display -- a match winning 71 off 148 -- came against a weak Afghanistan side, his worst was reserved for classic rivals Australia at Lord’s as the English skipper could only manage four off seven in their 64-run thumping.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza: Bangladesh

44 overs, 279 runs and just a solitary wicket -- not very captain-like figures from Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, whose prime task as a frontline pacer is to scalp wickets and contain runs. Considering individual performances, it has not been a dream World Cup for Mashrafe as he had more contributions off the field, such as during the post or pre match conferences, than he had contributed on the field. However, to see Bangladesh among the top-five teams with seven points from as many games, it must be said that the skipper is doing something right to guide his team to that position.

Sarfaraz Ahmed: Pakistan

Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed has so far been discussed for almost only embarrassing or wrong reasons. While images and videos of him yawning during Pakistan’s high-voltage game against India had been the topic of banter throughout social media, his visible unwillingness to take the strike and put the finishing touch on the game against Australia, where Wahab Riaz’s heroics was only complemented by Sarfaraz’s hilarious run-out, was widely criticised by journalists and cricket experts the world over. However, it is not the first time that Pakistan have bounced back from such situations. In fact, the results of this World Cup have been identical to those of the 1992 edition -- when Pakistan went on to lift the trophy. And while Pakistan fans would love to see it happen all over again, skipper Sarfaraz, who’s highest till now is an unconvincing 55 against England, would need to transform into a pragmatic leader if he is to walk the path of the great Imran Khan, who captained Pakistan in 1992.

Dimuth Karunaratne: Sri Lanka

Even after becoming only the second batsmen to have carried his bat through an innings in the World Cup, Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne could not avert a 10-wicket thumping in their World Cup opener against New Zealand in Cardiff. Karunaratne again saw his team stutter after he had fallen for a valiant 97 -- his career best ODI score -- against mighty Australia in chase of a mammoth 334 for seven. However, Sri Lanka still have their semifinal hopes alive, courtesy of a magnificent 20-run win over England. Karunaratne, who has a comparatively inexperienced team, needs to not only play well but also inspire his troops to achieve what no one expected.

Jason Holder: West Indies

Jason Holder could have guided West Indies to a magnificent win over Australia -- a game that the Caribbean lost by just 15 runs. West Indies required 37 runs from 25 deliveries with three wickets in hand when Holder decided to pull a Mitchell Starc bouncer on the leg stump line but reacted late only to see it ricochet off his gloves and be taken by the keeper. However, it was the best match for Holder in the ongoing World Cup as he scored 51 off 57 before returning economical figures of one for 28 in seven overs. While Holder remained expensive -- conceding 42 runs for three wickets in five overs -- in a dominating seven-wicket victory over Pakistan, Holder is yet to be the captain they need.

Faf du Plessis-South Africa

South Africa were the second most consistent team in this World Cup so far after Afghanistan as Faf du Plessis’ men lost five of their seven games with the game against West Indies being washed out and a nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan. While du Plessis could point out factors such as Dale Steyn’s injury and Lungi Ngidi’s unavailability for the same reason in crucial matches, the skipper himself failed at crunch moments. His decision was also questioned when he opted to bat on a relatively slow track in Southampton against a spin-heavy India. Du Plessis’s two fifties in the tournament, which came against Bangladesh (62) and Pakistan (63), were all for lost causes, indicating the impact he had for a team who have already exited the tournament.

Gulbadin Naib-Afghanistan

“We are already drowned darling, but we’ll take you with us.” were the words of Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib ahead of their 62-run thrashing at the hands of Bangladesh. As it stands, that was the highest level of threat he posed in the tournament. Naib’s highest score in the tournament -- a 75-ball 47 against Bangladesh -- never looked threatening. And while Naib could be credited giving India a good scare in a nail biting encounter, the only thing that the Afghans can do now is focus on their captain’s words and make it difficult for Pakistan and West Indies.

“They are India and we are Bangladesh and that is the difference between the two sides. In the field, who will play well [will win]. Since it is a big tournament, if you go by the names then you will be going on the backfoot.”

Soumya Sarkar, Bangladesh player

When in Dhaka, Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is always casting his eyes towards Narail, his hometown. Having grown up in the village the right-arm pacer is more at home in quieter settings, away from the noise of city life and the singular focus placed on him as the face of the object of the country’s obsession.

While Birmingham, the second largest city in the UK, is nowhere near as frenzied and chaotic as Bangladesh’s one-stop metropolis, there was still much noise surrounding Bangladesh’s precarious position in the World Cup semifinal race. Perhaps that is why, with a gap of around five days between the team’s next practice session on June 30 ahead of their virtual knockout encounter against India in Edgbaston on July 2, Mashrafe and his family opted for a day and a half of quiet repose in the rural comforts of the Welsh region of Snowdonia.

Yesterday afternoon, Mashrafe reached the small town of Snowdon, a town in Gwynnedd county, built around Wales’s highest mountain bearing the same name. They had been fortunate with the weather as brilliant sunshine illuminated the road leading there, weaving through rock-capped green mountains and deep blue lakes. However, a bit of the good fortune ran out by the time they reached Snowdon. Mashrafe and his family -- as well as Mehedi Hasan Miraz and his newlywed -- were eager to take a quaint steam train ride up to the peak, but were disappointed when the ‘Mountain Railway’ staff informed him that they were booked solid for the day and that he would have to come back today.

However, such are the bounties of the region that another attraction was not too far away, and the families decided to go to the picturesque Swallow Waterfall around 15 miles back the way they came.

Ostensibly, Mashrafe may have been looking for some time away from cricket, but cricket never leaves his mind. As he was having some snacks at the Mountain

Railway station, he talked about the ongoing West Indies-India match, speculating on the kind of wicket they may get against India on July 2.

He may also have been seeking anonymity, but he soon enough a Bangladeshi sought him out for a selfie. There is no true getaway for a Bangladesh captain, it seems.