Asia Cup 2018: Is Bangladesh an easy pushover for India in the final?

It is an India vs Bangladesh final in the 14th edition of the Asia Cup 2018. While some of the Indian fans would be delighted to see the back of home team Pakistan, some others would be ruing the missed opportunity to watch yet another match between India and Pakistan.

To the credit of Bangladesh, they came back quite strongly after the thrashing they got at the hands of Afghanistan in the group stage and India in the Super Four stage. The format of this Asia Cup enabled Bangladesh to reach the final even after their dismal show in the initial stages of the tournament.

The other finalist, India are sitting on top of the table. Before the tie against Afghanistan, India had an unbeaten record of 10 consecutive matches in Asia Cup. During that dream run, the one team that ran India close in the Asia Cup was Bangladesh.

In this article, an attempt is made to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the Bangladesh team vis-a-vis the Pakistan team.

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How Bangladesh can be a comparatively easy opponent for Team India?

1. The absence of the key players in Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan

The experienced Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan will be sorely missed in the final

Both Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan had to leave the team due to injuries. Tamim Iqbal is an experienced and explosive opener. He has a very good record against India. Whenever Tamim gets going, he puts his team in a commanding position. His experience will be missed in the final.

Shakib Al Hasan, on the other hand, is a quality all-rounder who can break into any international team purely on the basis of either of his skills, that is to say, batting or bowling. Shakib is the No 1 all-rounder in ICC ODI rankings. It is very difficult to replace such a good player and his absence will upset the balance of the Bangladesh team.

In this Asia Cup, Shakib hasn’t done anything exceptional as a batsman. However, he is a big match player and very difficult to contain once he gets going. In bowling, Shakib is generally tight and has the knack of picking up crucial wickets. His class and experience will be sorely missed in the final.

The absence of the two experienced players Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan from the Bangladesh team would act in India’s favour in the final.

Comparatively speaking, Pakistan team was at full strength and would have given the Indians a run for their money had they reached the final.

2. Brittle top order for Bangladesh

Brittle top order of Bangladesh in display

In the absence of Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh have lost quick wickets at the top in every match in this Asia Cup. Even in their match against Pakistan, Bangladesh were 12 for 3 at one stage before Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun bailed the team out of trouble with a 4th wicket partnership of 144 runs.

Against Team India, it will be a different ball game as they will be up against the wrist-spinners should they lose early wickets. The Indians can fancy their chances of opening up the game from the word go with the brittle top order of Bangladesh.

Pakistan’s top order was much stronger with Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam in good form.

3. Inferior pace bowling attack of Bangladesh

Bangladesh have a decent pace bowling attack and Mustafizur Rahim is in good form in this Asia Cup. Having said that, their pace attack is not as threatening as that of Pakistan.

In the match against Bangladesh, Junaid Khan and Shaheen Afridi were terrific in their early bursts with the new ball. Sarfraz Ahmed made a tactical error in not continuing with his opening bowlers beyond 4 overs each.

Bangladesh were on the floor when Sarfraz Ahmed decided to take off both Junaid and Afridi simultaneously from the bowling crease. One more wicket at that stage, perhaps that of the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim, would have decisively tilted the match in favour of Pakistan. It would have been an India vs Pakistan final.

The Indian batsmen would be happy to face the steady bowling of Mustafizur Rahman and Mashrafe Mortaza rather than the express pace of Junaid Khan and Shaheen Afridi.

4. Fifth bowler problem for Bangladesh

The absence of world-class all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has left a huge hole in the bowling resources of Bangladesh. In the match against Pakistan, Bangladesh went into the match with just 4 regular bowlers.

Fortunately for Bangladesh, Mahmadullah and Soumya Sarkar came to their rescue. They bowled exceptionally well in tandem. To make matters easy for Bangladesh, Pakistan promoted Shadab Khan to No. 6 and he struggled to reach 4 off 24 balls with the non-regular bowlers bowling from both the ends.

The chances of Mahmadullah and Soumya Sarkar coming good against the strong Indian batting line-up are minimal. More so, if India are to bat first in the final. It is much easier for the non-regular bowlers like Mahmadullah and Sarkar to contribute with a few quite overs when bowling second.

It is a different story when the opposition team is batting first and their batsmen are on the ascent. The Indian batsman should aim to exploit the weakness of the Bangladesh team as far as their fifth bowling option is concerned.

Compared to Bangladesh, Pakistan had got a more balanced bowling attack with 5 regular bowlers and Shoaib Malik as the back- up bowler.

5. Bangladesh – The chokers against India

Karthik spoiled the party last time

Bangladesh have lost so many close matches against India in the recent past, though in a different format of the game. In the world T20 match in Bangalore, Bangladesh needed just 2 runs to win and 1 to tie with 3 balls remaining. Mushfiqur Rahim celebrated prematurely before Bangladesh somehow managed to lose 3 wickets in the last 3 balls and ended up losing by 1 run.

In the Nidahas trophy final in Colombo, India were down and out needing 34 runs in 2 overs. Bangladesh thought they had it covered this time around. Once again the celebrations started happening.

Then came Dinesh Karthik, who smacked 22 runs in the 19th over. Needing 5 runs to win off the last ball, Karthik smashed a six over extra cover leaving Bangladesh were heartbroken yet again.

Though these results were achieved in the T20 formats, it will be fresh in memory for the Bangladesh players and will play on the minds of the players if the final goes down to the wire.

6. Bangladesh’s poor record against India in one-day matches

Bangladesh have so far played 33 matches against India and won only 5 of those matches with a poor winning percentage of 15. Their notable victory against India in one-day matches was in the World Cup 2007 which saw India returning home after the group stage itself. In the last 10 one day matches against India, Bangladesh has won only 2.

Team India have dominated Bangladesh in the past in the one-day internationals. They will hold the psychological advantage going into the final.

Compared to Bangladesh, Pakistan have a much better overall record against India in one-day matches, especially in the finals of various tournaments.

7. For India, it is just another match against Bangladesh

For Team India, the pressure is minimal against Bangladesh

The Indians won’t be under too much pressure playing Bangladesh in the final. It will be just another match for the Indians and the absence of unwarranted pressure should bring the best out of Indian players.

A final match against Pakistan is a different kind of pressure altogether. For that matter, even any match against Pakistan is a pressure cooker situation for the Indians. The emotions will run high which would affect the performance of the players.

In what way Bangladesh is comparatively tougher than Pakistan?

Mushfiqur Rahim - The in-form batsman for Bangladesh

The momentum – After winning two tough matches against Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Super Four stage, Bangladesh are on a roll. The momentum is with them to go for the kill in the final.

Better fielding side – Compared to Pakistan, Bangladesh is a much better fielding team. They had an outstanding time in the field against Pakistan.

In-form middle order batsmen – In Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Imrul Kayes, and Mahmadullah, Bangladesh have a very strong and in-form middle order. They are ably backed by Mashrafe Mortaza and Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the late order. In the Pakistan team, except Shoaib Malik, none of the other middle order batsmen were in form.

Better spin bowler – In Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh have an effective off-break bowler who is good with both the new and old ball. Pakistan spin bowling resources are limited.

Common weaknesses of both Bangladesh and Pakistan

Both Bangladesh and Pakistan are found wanting while chasing.

Both have the common tendency to choke when under pressure.

Conclusion

To conclude, India are better off playing Bangladesh in the final than Pakistan. They can play without any additional pressure against Bangladesh. From the Indian fans’ point of view, they can breathe a sigh of relief now that Pakistan is not in the final. They don’t have to go through the emotions associated with India Pakistan tie.

Pakistan surprised India in the final of the Champions Trophy. We never know, when Pakistan will up the ante when it comes to playing against India.

As far as Bangladesh is concerned, the format of this Asia Cup has given them an unexpected second opportunity. For Bangladesh, it doesn’t matter how you win. It only matters when you win.

For India, it is good that they are not meeting Pakistan in the final in their adopted home ground. But against Bangladesh, they should guard against complacency and focus on their strengths rather than on the weaknesses of the opponent.

An exciting final is on the cards.