Team India scaring opponents with fearless cricket: Bangladesh coach

India Vs Bangladesh Pune ODI would be the fourth match of both the teams in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. While Team India have defeated its opponents in all the three matches they have played in the tournament till now, Bangladesh have lost back-to-back games after winning the opener.

“I think they have covered every area. They got strike bowlers up front. Bumrah has almost come to his best, as good as we have seen in the past. They have good, experienced spinners going in the middle overs. And their batting, especially the top order is firing and it’s scary the way they are playing at this stage without much fear,” PTI quoted Hathurusingha as saying ahead of the India game.

“It looks like they are enjoying their cricket at the moment and their home World Cup, and there is a lot of support,” he added.

“Shakib al Hasan won’t play if he doesn’t feel ready”

Though Shakib al Hasan has had a good net session but Hathurusingha insisted that the Bangladesh skipper will play the World Cup match against India only if he feels fully fit.

“He (Shakib) had a good batting session yesterday. He did a bit of running between the wickets as well. We are waiting for the result of the scan we did today. We haven’t tried his bowling yet. We will assess him tomorrow morning, and make a decision,” Hathurusingha said.

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“If he is not ready to play, we won’t risk it. If he is ready, there’s a chance of him playing tomorrow (Thursday),” the coach said

“First it is the medical staff who gives us their opinion. They give the green or red light. They give us the indication where the player is. If they think it is not risky, the player is given the choice of playing the game or not. It comes to the captain and coach whether they want the player or not. If he is wanted in one or both disciplines,” he added.

Hathurusingha said that World Cup contests are entirely different from any other matches and Bangladesh will have to produce their best cricket in order to get the better of India.

“We had success in the recent past against India but it is a different ball game in the World Cup. We are hoping to have a complete performance. India, the in-form team in the World Cup, has a not-so-good game, and (if) we play to our potential, it will serve us. We need to start well,” he stated during interaction with media.

Batting needs to fire

Hathurusingha acknowledged that Bangladesh will have to do a lot better with the bat than their recent performance in order to challenge India.

“This wicket is probably the best batting wicket we have come across so far. Even the practice wickets were similar. We had a really good net session yesterday,” Hathurusingha said.

“We haven’t put up a complete performance with the ball and bat. We are expected to do a complete performance. We know that we play as a team and perform to our capabilities, we have beaten big teams. We have done well in the past. I think we, fingers crossed, have one of those days,” he said.

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Updated: 18 Oct 2023, 09:19 PM IST