Wickets more important than containment

The Hyatt Regency in Birmingham became a busier hotel over the last two days. When the Bangladesh team arrived here on June 25, it became a hub of sorts for subcontinental visitors in the stronghold of the south-east Asian community in Britain, but it reached another level on Friday when the Indian team arrived at the same hotel. For once on their World Cup trek through the UK, Bangladesh’s supporters will be in the minority.

Bangladesh had faced the full volume of Indian support during their Champions Trophy semifinal in 2017 here, and Indians swamped the streets on the day of the match and overwhelmed the Bangladeshi support inside the arena, much as their team did to their opponents. So when Bangladesh take on India in their World Cup match at Edgbaston on July 2, they will be underdogs in every sense -- in terms of playing ability, tournament position and recent results between the two teams.

It is an encounter that, depending on whether or not India beat hosts England today, Bangladesh will have to win to stay alive in the race to the semifinals. On Friday night, while Birmingham was abuzz with weekend revellers, Mashrafe came out in front of the hotel for some fresh air and while that would have caused a small commotion of Bangladeshi selfie-hunters on other nights, Mashrafe was more or less left alone as Indian fans tried to talk their way through tough hotel security and failed. Mashrafe recalled how overwhelming the support for India was the last time.

Although the match was still four days away, the wheels in Mashrafe’s head were already turning about finding a way past a team that was yet to be defeated in the World Cup. Would it be better to bat first or bowl first if they won the toss? They lost by nine wickets after batting first and scoring 264 in 2017. Bowling first would open the possibility of them being batted out of the game as they were done by the two other strong contenders for the title -- Australia and England.

He had in the past expressed relief after losing the toss. Would it be better to lose the toss this time too?

“Maybe,” Mashrafe mused as the deluge of Indian fans swept past. He was wondering what score would be enough to win against the strong Indian lineup if they did bat first. 340 seemed to be the number. But for that, they would have to see the wicket, and Mashrafe did not yet know which strip they would use for the match. Such were the worries and conflicts that constitute the mind of a captain heading into what may become a sudden-death match against the strongest team of the tournament. It could be said that Bangladesh, ranked eighth, had done enough by staying alive this deep into the tournament and impressing all and sundry with their performance in hostile conditions.

“To tell you the truth, none of my team are satisfied with what we have done so far. We have played well, but while it would surprise many outsiders if we reached the semis, I can say for sure that no one in the team would be surprised,” Mashrafe said.

Having played their last match against Afghanistan on June 24, many Bangladesh players were away in various places of the UK on vacation. Mashrafe and opener Tamim Iqbal were among those who came back on Friday. Others joined the team yesterday and today Bangladesh are set to undergo a practice session to prepare for the crucial World Cup encounter. There will be much for the team to finalise over the next two days.

After 44 days of cricket, we are just 2 days away from the much-awaited final of the World Cup. Be it England or New Zealand who win it on July 14 at Lord’s, one thing is sure, the game will have a new world champion. In all these days, we saw some unanticipated hits and some unexpected misses while we also saw those, who outlived the expectations. Making a comeback to the international cricket after a year-long ban, Australia opener David Warner impressed with his style. He was aggressive, throughout, as if he was there to prove a point. Shakib Al Hasan was a surprise package all together. Kane Williamson, as calm as monk, guided New Zealand to their second World Cup final with his brilliant batting. Mitchell Starc unleashed mayhem with his yorkers, while Jofra Archer proved his worth in his maiden World Cup appearance for England. A lot of them have impressed, but only one will take home the Player of the Tournament award. Here is a look at all those player who are in contention.

Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh failed to make it to the last four of the World Cup but Shakib Al Hasan was in form of his life. Shakib ended a prolific World Cup 2019 with 606 runs, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s record of the most runs scored in the group stage. The left-hander hammered two centuries and 6 half-centuries. Not only did he show his grace with the bat, the all-rounder also impressed with his spin bowling. Shakib scalped11 wickets for his side at an economy of 5.39. So this complete player is very much in contention for the player of the tournament, unless the ICC jury is in a mood to not hand the award to a player belonging to the team that did not quite contend for cricket’s greatest prize.

Rohit Sharma

With a World Cup record five  centuries in the 2019 event, India opener Rohit Sharma has been ahead of all other batsmen in the race. The India opener is the leading run scorer in the tournament with 648 runs from nine matches at an average of 81. Alongisde his five tons, he also has one half-century. Rohit was only 27 runs short of surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who leads the list of batsmen with most runs in a single edition of the World Cup, but he managed just a single run as India’s campaign at the World Cup came to an end with a semifinal defeat against New Zealand. Rohit was seen shedding tears then, but he may have something to smile about soon.

Mitchell Starc

Australia suffered their first semifinal defeat in a World Cup as hosts England crushed the five-time champions by 8 wickets to reach their first World Cup final in 27 years.

Although Australia’s World Cup journey ended, Mitchell Starc remains the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. The southpaw has picked 27 wickets in 10 innings at an economy of 5.43. Starc, also the player of the tournament in World Cup 2015, broke Glenn McGrath’s record for most wickets in a single edition of the showpiece event. The pacer also has two five-wicket hauls and two four-wicket hauls in this edition of the tournament to put a strong claim for his second player of the World Cup award in succession.

The gloomy weather yesterday in Cardiff, where it rained heavily until late afternoon, did no favours to Bangladesh ahead of today's World Cup match against World Cup favourites and hosts England.

Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun and Mosaddek Hossain were all restricted to indoor practice while the rest of the team opted to take a break from practice because they could not train outdoors. For a team that places great importance on momentum, it was not the ideal preparation for perhaps the toughest examination of their campaign, especially as they are coming off a loss against New Zealand in their last match.

The defeat threw light on the less-than-ideal form of some important players, and skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza included himself and star opener Tamim Iqbal in that category. Mashrafe has conceded 81 runs from 11 wicketless overs in the two matches so far, while Tamim has scored just 40 runs from 67 balls after getting starts against both South Africa and New Zealand -- uncharacteristic for a player who has been known for cashing in on good starts for the past four years.

"We are in the middle of the tournament now, so it is not as if we can change a lot through practice," Mashrafe told reporters yesterday. "But for some players, practice sessions are very important. If you talk about me, then obviously today practice was very important to top up certain things that are not happening for me on the field. Tamim is feeling the same. In that regard, I think we have been a little unlucky. For some of us the practice session was important, to get used to the wind, not being able to do which may not be a positive sign for us. But you can't do anything about the weather; we have to try to keep our confidence levels high."

Mushfiqur is one of those in form, but he has been a target of criticism for letting off Kane Williamson in the two-wicket loss against New Zealand, when he disturbed the bails with his elbow and negated a sure run-out at a crucial juncture.

"I think Mushfiqur is completely okay, and there is no reason not to be normal," said Mashrafe when asked about Mushfiqur's state after a social media barrage against the keeper. "And of course, there will be criticism surrounding those who are working. It is easy to do that. The team is supporting each other. It is normal, the people who are talking about it are the ones not able to take it normally."