Published: Dec 03, 2022, 07:57 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 03, 2022, 07:58 PM (IST)
Dhaka: India captain Rohit Sharma felt the ODI series against Bangladesh starting on Sunday won’t be a cakewalk for the Men in Blue as the hosts would throw challenges in every departments of the game.
India, who are coming off a 0-1 ODI series loss against New Zealand, will be boosted by the return of Rohit, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul for the three-match series. The last time these two teams played in Bangladesh in an ODI series, the hosts won 2-1 in 2015.
“I think it’s been an exciting rivalry over the years. But over the last 7-8 years they have been a difficult team and been very challenging and we have not had easy wins against them,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference.
“We have had to play good cricket to win against them. In the T20 World Cup, it was a close game and in 2015, we lost the series here. By no means, we are thinking that it’s going to be a cakewalk for us because we know they are a much-improved side in the last few years,” he added.
In the last few years, the India-Bangladesh rivalry has produced matches that have kept people on the edge of their seats, with the most recent instance being the rain-hit T20 World Cup match, where the visitors’ survived Litton Das’ batting brilliance to win by five runs in Adelaide.
🗣️🗣️”It’s going be an exciting challenge against Bangladesh” – Captain, @ImRo45 speaks ahead of the 1st ODI in Dhaka #TeamIndia | #BANvIND pic.twitter.com/NtjCoHp4FT
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 3, 2022
“They are going to be a very competitive team in their backyard, so we have to be at our best to win the series. They have been a very challenging team and we have to play well to beat them. It’s a very simple equation for us,” said the Indian opener.
“Of course, we are playing them in their own backyard, so we expect them to challenge us in every bit, whether itrs batting, bowling and fielding as well. But for us, winning a series is not what we are looking at, we are looking at one game at a time and trying to see how we play well in that one game and then think about second and third games.”
Though Bangladesh are missing regular skipper Tamim Iqbal and pacer Taskin Ahmed, India will be wary of other experienced campaigners in the hosts’ line-up like Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, and other members.
But Rohit is not keen to concentrate much on what balance Bangladesh will have in their playing eleven. “Honestly, we don’t look at the opposition composition too much. We have to play well as the Indian cricket team and that is where our focus will be.
“Of course, they have some quality players. They are going to miss a few of their experienced players. But for them also, it is going to give the opportunity to others to play well,” he said.
“Those two guys have been match-winners for Bangladesh and have done well for so many years for them. But it is important to not too much focus on the opposition and do what we want to do as an Indian cricket team.”
Rohit signed off by saying bounce and movement off the pitch will be something India will be careful about. “It’s not the easiest thing to judge but as far as I am concerned we have played a lot of cricket in the sub-continent and somewhere down the line they tend to behave the same.
“On days there can be extra bounce and extra grass can give a bit of lateral movement. So these things need to keep in mind,” he added.
