Bangladesh got their test stature by defeating Pakistan in the 1999 world cup. But it took another 15 years and 320 days to beat the same Asian giant again. Now Bangladesh have defeated them twice in last three days. Thanks mainly to Tamim Iqbal for scoring century in both the games.
With Bangladesh winning the first two game of the three match series and taking 2-0 unassailable lead in the series will put a lot of pressure on the Indian national team selector when they will meet on 26th april.
Bangladesh have made a huge statement by playing some fearless cricket on their home ground. Most of their batsman are looking in good touch. Everything is looking settled in the Bangladeshi camp. Their batsman posted a score of above 300 runs when they batted first in the first game and bowled out the opposition under 250 when they bowled first in the second game.
The trio of Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim are very handy at the top of the order. Their batting have also got depth now with Sakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hosain and Masrafe Mortaza are well capable of finishing the innings on a high note. Fast Bowlers have also came good for them in recent times with Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain consistently hitting the 140 km per hours. Before the start of the series against Pakistan the stand-in caption of Bangladesh Sakib Al Hasan had said that their team will start the series as favourite to win. They proved that their pre-assumption was not false.
Most of the senior players of Indian cricket team are busy now playing in the Indian Premier League after their return from four months tour of Australia which also includes the ICC Cricket World Cup. There is not much gap between IPL and the tour of Bangladesh which is commencing just after the IPL. It will be tuff ask for the players to play back to back series. As MS Dhoni has raised his concerns several times over the playing continuous cricket which affect the team performance. So, its very unlikely that the senior players will agree to play the series in Bangladesh.
This can also open the doors of international cricket for the likes of Surya Kumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, Sandeep Sharma and many others who has caught the attention of the audience by their performance. It can also bring some senior cricketer into scheme of things who were not getting their opportunity for some time now. Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Yuvraj Singh can fancy their chances to get selected for the tour.
Now with Bangladesh putting some good performance and threatening team India with their current form, selectors can have to exercise their brain. Bangladesh had shown their disappointment when India not sent their primary team for the series last year. There were also some issues with the broadcasters last time due to secondary team. When these two teams played the bilateral series last year, India won the series 2-0 but it was Bangladesh who won the heart of millions of cricket fans with bundling out the Indian team at about 100 runs in two games.
The Indian selectors will have to make an important decision in the team selection. Will they bank again on the experience campaigners or give the opportunity to the youngsters who have done well in the IPL. We will wait and watch, but whatever team will be selected will reflect the mindset of the Indian selectors.
