Closest encounters between India & Bangladesh

Modern-day cricket has seen a huge transformation from what it used to be in the era of Sachin, Lara, Ponting, Kallis, and other greats of world cricket. Newer teams have adapted to the current formats quite effectively and give strong competition to well-established teams. Teams like Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland, etc. are examples of some excellent teams that have come forward to replace teams that fared well in the 2000s but have not been able to live up to the expectations of their fans such as Sri Lanka, West Indies, Kenya, etc.

One of the teams pulling above their weight in the past couple of decades, Bangladesh, will be coming to India to challenge the hosts in 2 Tests and 3 T20Is from November 3rd to November 26th. The Tigers have become one of those teams that can beat even the best teams on their day.

Players such as Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, and Mahmudullah provide the team with a strong backbone. This bunch has helped them upset many big teams over the years.

One of the biggest scalps they pulled off was beating the Indian team at the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, which led to India exiting the tournament in the league stages in embarrassing fashion.

The upcoming series against India provides them with a chance to beat the odds yet again. If you were a betting man, you could reap massive rewards on 10CRIC by placing your money on the Tigers, who will have vengeance on their minds, having lost to India at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Ahead of the series, let's go back in history and relive some of the close encounters between India and Bangladesh.

India vs Bangladesh - 2007 ICC World Cup

India was one of the pre-tournament favourites in West Indies with the likes of Sehwag, Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, and Yuvraj Singh forming the batting lineup. Bangladesh, however, punched above their weight on that day. Having batted first, the formidable Indian batting line-up was bundled out for a paltry score of 191. Bangaldeshi bowlers Mashrafe Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique ploughed through the Indian batting order claiming 7 wickets between them. Only two batsmen could hold their heads high after this embarrassing collective batting performance - Saurav Ganguly (66) and Yuvraj Singh (47).

Bangladesh started poorly and it looked like another routine Indian win, but 50s by three Bangladeshi batsmen - Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim - ensured they caused the biggest disappointment to India in the history of world cricket. Bangladesh defeated the experienced Indian team by 5 wickets with 9 balls to spare.

It was in the aftermath of this match that India passed on the baton to the younger lot and the rest became a history giving Indian cricket the like of MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, & co.

India vs Bangladesh T20 World Cup 2016

India vs Bangladesh - World T20 2016

This was one of the most memorable encounters between India and Bangladesh which took place in Bengaluru, a stadium known for fireworks and being a batting paradise. However, this went against the script as India couldn't cross 150, finishing on 146 after 20 overs.

Bangladesh were in the hunt throughout the match despite wickets falling continuously. However, the match came down to the last over where Bangla boys needed 11 runs to upset India yet again. Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur were batting well. Dhoni handed over the ball to Pandya who gave 9 runs in the first three balls. Mushfiqur was elated and expressed himself with fist pumps, yells and bat swings after hitting back to back boundaries as Bangladesh were all but over the line.

It was a cakewalk for Bangladeshis after that as they needed just 2 off 3 deliveries. India, however, refused to give up. Pandya got Mushfiqur holed out on the fourth delivery while Mahmudullah was caught by Jadeja the very next ball to take it to the last ball with Bangladesh still needing 2 runs. The pressure was definitely getting to the Men in Green.

Pandya decided to go for a short ball, which the batsmen missed to connect and the ball went to Dhoni. The Bangladeshi scampered through the pitch, but the fastest man on the pitch at that moment was MS Dhoni, who raced to the stumps and whipped the bails before Mushfiqur could make the ground and India won by 1 run.

Players to Look Out For & What to Expect

A number of matches have followed since then where both teams have had nearly moments, most notably the Nidahas Trophy finals. Rohit Sharma is the highest run scorer in T20s for India with 356 runs in just 8 innings. Though Virat Kohli has an impeccable record against most nations, he is yet to make a lasting impression for the team. A major boost for Bangladesh is that Kohli has been rested for the series, but the good news for India is that in-form batsman, Rohit Sharma, will lead the team in the shortest format.

Rubel Hossain has the record of taking most number of wickets (7 wickets in 4 matches) in matches involving the two countries. R Ashwin has taken 6 wickets at an average of 12.00 in 4 matches while Chahal has 5 wickets from 3 matches.

Despite India's red-hot form, the upcoming Bangladesh tour of India promises to be a closely contested encounter. The first Test begins on 3rd November, and you can get up to 10,000 bonus on joining 10CRIC before the series.

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