Bangladesh v India: A tour of hope

Akshar Patel

Football is certainly the flavor of the sport right now. Indian sports fans are experiencing the extravaganza in Brazil, the spiritual home of “The Beautiful Game”. Some are true football freaks religiously following their favourite leagues and players, while the others are those who come out of their hibernation once in every four years. No matter what kind of a fan you are, football fever has certainly gripped you.

Amidst this jamboree, “The Gentleman’s Game” has taken a back seat in audience’s minds. However, it is in the next few days that India’s future stars will make a statement on the world stage. Agreed, the opposition is not a much fancied one; still the task is daunting considering the relative inexperience of this young Indian team. It is now that the seniors like Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa must use their experience at the world stage to help youngsters calm their nerves. At the highest level, the nerves are as important as the talent, for it is often the one who loses his cool loses the match, as well.

The Indian squad features some exciting talents as well as some quality players, who have drifted apart from the core team. As much as it is an opportunity for the Patels and Rasools to make their marks on the big stage, this tour may well be one of the limited opportunities the likes of Uthappas and Jadhavs will get to cement a place in the Indian side. All the players will have the England tour at the back of their mind and will use it as a motivator to perform well.

The Bangladesh tour may not promise much on popularity quotient but will certainly be a test for talent. Though the conditions are not very dissimilar from those back home in India, the prospect of the Bangladeshi tigers squaring against a fairly inexperienced Indian team will make it more difficult for the visitors. If the Indians manage to win comprehensively in this series, then we can be sure that Indian cricket is taking strides in the right direction.

Indian squad for the Bangladesh tour:

SK Raina*, STR Binny, KM Jadhav, A Mishra, Parvez Rasool, AR Patel, CA Pujara, AM Rahane, AT Rayudu, WP Saha†, MM Sharma, MK Tiwary, RV Uthappa, R Vinay Kumar, UT Yadav

Looking at the squad, one will realize that this tour is a golden opportunity for every player to make a case for his place. Backing on a strong performance in the Indian Premier League and also equipped with a technique to handle the short balls better than he used to, Raina will look to be the keystone of India’s lower-middle order supporting Virat Kohli, when the latter returns back to the national set-up.

Uthappa will look to continue his ominous form from the concluded domestic season as well as the IPL and rocket himself up in the pecking order for the opener’s slot. Shikhar Dhawan’s troubles of late have left the spot wide open for grabs. Given the form that he is in, the Karnataka opener may well be “the opener that India is looking for”, as claimed by the man himself.

This tour will also be a challenge for Amit Mishra, who had an excellent World T20 tournament but a forgettable IPL. These two series sum up his career so far. He promises so much and yet falls short on his promise every time something big is expected of him. Delivering when expectations are high is what made Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh the greats of Indian cricket.

The pace department looks shaky. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the ability, but one needs to wait to see if he can continuously bowl as well at the death as he did in the seventh season of the IPL. Umesh bowled fast during the IPL, consistently hitting the 140 kmph mark; however this will be a different ball game altogether. It needs to be seen if he can maintain his speed for all of the 10 overs in ODIs and many more in Tests.

The Vidarbha pacer is not alone in gunning for a pacer’s spot. Mohit Sharma had a brilliant IPL, as well. His variations in the death overs were very effective and will come in handy when he faces the Bangladeshis.

More than anything, this tour will be a big opportunity for the likes of Akshar Patel, Kedar Jadhav and Stuart Binny; Patel was the find of this year’s IPL, bowling in pressure situations and coming out on top more often than not. He is tight in his line and length and electric in the field, much like Ravindra Jadeja. Jadhav, on the other hand, was stuck with Delhi Daredevils, a team that apparently had no clue as to what their plan was.

Stuart Binny slots in for the pace bowling all-rounder’s spot, which is hurting India since Kapil Dev called it a day. The likes of Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan have flattered to deceive. While the age may not be on their side, it is a great chance for Jadhav and Binny to showcase their talent and enjoy the game without putting too much pressure on themselves.

The future looks bright for Indian cricket if the youngsters deliver on their promise, and one must not forget Sanju Samson, the promising young wicket-keeper who is waiting in the wings for a chance to burst onto the international scene.