Bangladesh to take on India today

COLOMBO, Jan 11: Bangla-desh are ready to face the tou-ghest challenge in their cam-paign in World Youth Cricket Championship when they take on a more colourful India in the opening Group B match at the Moratuwa Stadium here today.

Hannan Sarker, the lone experienced member in an otherwise pack of rookies, will lead Bangladesh who will for the first meet India at this level of cricket.

Although India hold the enviable tag of one of the pre-tournament favourites in the 16-team meet that kicked off on January 10, a determined Bangladesh youth team is confident of achieving something that their seniors have failed to do to date.

"We have a 50-50 chance to win the game," said a confident Hannan, the lone survivor of the team that won the Plate in South Africa two years ago.

"To do the trick we need to win the toss in the morning and send India to bat so that our bowlers can exploit the early morning dew. During our two practice matches, we have observed that the wicket here helps the seamers a lot. Moreover, we want to live up to our potential in every department of the game."

Coach Dipu Rai Chowdhury also feels that his boys have the ability to beat India provided they win the toss in the morning.

Although the former national left-arm seamer had an early disappointment in his first assignment as coach, the bearded Dipu sees the defeats in both the practice matches against two local selections a blessing in disguise ahead of the real challenge.

"India are the better opponents not for the quality of their game, but for their experience. But I think my boys are capable of turning things their way.

"We have a very good batting line-up and if it performs to its billing and if the bowlers bowl in the channels, a win against India is always on the cards," said Dipu.

Incidentally, Dipu will have Roger Binni, the former Indian pacer and now the coach of the team, at the other end since their last in-field encounter way back in 1994.

Replying to a query, the Bangladesh coach said he will field two seamers against India and is ready to sacrifice a batsman or a bowler to accommodate as many as nine allrounder. Dipu was talking to the Bangladesh journalists in Colombo during a practice session at the Police Ground in the evening.

"I'm not aware of the wickets in Moratuwa," Dipu said. Moratuwa is 20 km from Colombo.

"I understand that India performed well in the practice matches. Still, I think it will be an ideal start for us to meet India in the tournament openers," Dipu claimed.