Tigers have poor practice

There were a few thousand fans in attendance at The Oval during Bangladesh's final practice game against India. Among the paying public, most were Indian expats in England. For them, the 15-pound ticket was worth its full value because their team tuned up for the ICC Champions Trophy with yet another resounding victory. But for the few hundred Bangladeshi expats in that mix, it turned out to be a nightmare.

While Bangladesh's presence in the game was as fleeting as the sun on a cloudy London day, the Indians made a big statement that they have come to England to defend the title. The contest was a total anti-climax of what was tipped as more than just a practice game. The Indians posted 324 for seven in 50 overs and that too without their key batsmen -- captain Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The famed batting trio did not come to the crease in an attempt to allow other batsmen some much-needed practice.

Bangladesh's response was not only the worst in recent memory; it was one of the low points in their ODI history. They were reduced to 22 for six, something that has not happened to them in ODIs before. They were bowled out for 58 twice in a one-day contest. They were tantalisingly close to that ignominy again.

Thankfully though, this game will not be in the record books.

It was actually a horror show where the Tigers crumbled against the twin pace attack of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav. The pair evenly shared the first six wickets with controlled pace and the considerable bounce the new ball offered.

With Tamim Iqbal not playing the game, Imrul Kayes opened the batting with Soumya Sarker, whose dismissal started the carnage in the fourth over. Soumya was not sure whether he had nicked it or not, but he had to leave. Sabbir became the second victim of a double-wicket maiden by Yadav when he missed a pitched-up delivery and was clean bowled for a duck. Imrul and Shakib Al Hasan pulled their way out of the ground against Bhuvneshwar and so did Mushfiqur Rahim. Mosaddek was undone too by a good delivery from Yadav while Mahmudullah was subject to a brilliant catch by Dinesh Karthik, who hit a brilliant 94 earlier in the day.

While Bangladesh were losing wickets very fast, a reporter quipped that Bangladesh were playing like England while referring to England's disappointing performance against South Africa in the their ODI at Lord's where the home side were reduced to 20 for six.

England might have a case to blame the green Lord's wicket as they were batting first, but Bangladesh were certainly not mentally equipped and to some extent not patient enough to weather the early pressure on a wicket that assisted the pacers early on.

The demoralising performance is certainly a wake-up call for Bangladesh going into the tournament opener against England at the same venue on June 1. The Tigers are certainly not as bad as they looked out there yesterday. The batting discipline was missing in the absence of Tamim.

Bangladesh pacer Rubel Hossain (2nd from R), who took three wickets, was the lone bright spot in their unfortunate outing in the Champions Trophy warm-up game against India at The Oval yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

However in an otherwise forgettable encounter, there were two outstanding performers in pace bowler Rubel Hossain and off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz.

Rubel was fantastic with the new ball and made the early inroad by dismissing Rohit Sharma. He bowled his 10 overs in three spells and was aggressive and accurate. That makes him almost a certainty to start as third seamer when Bangladesh play the opening game against England. Taskin Ahmed also bowled in the match but he was wayward. Mehedi was the other bowler who impressed with 9-1-39-0.  He also batted well and scored the team highest of 24.

But the most disturbing sign going into the tournament opener for Bangladesh was Shakib's poor run of form both with the bat and ball. Shakib scored seven and conceded 23 runs in the three overs he bowled.