The free spirited Afghans ran the marathon shoulder to shoulder against the Lankans but stuttered and tripped at the finish line only to see the experienced Mahela Jayawardene guide Sri Lanka home. The Afghans did everything right to give them a chance to prove to the world that the bar to measure the quality of an Associate Member country has been significantly raised.
Bangladesh, fresh from its win against Afghanistan, will have looked into the spirited performance by this World Cup debutant that nearly rolled over the Lankans as a huge brain booster. The former World Cup winner did exhibit adequate examples of its vulnerability and the question is whether Bangladesh can sustain its focus and its desire to exploit the chances that may come along the way.
No one in the right frame of mind should consider Sri Lanka not to be the favourites at the MCG today. It is a side that has played in three World Cup finals, winning it once when no one gave it much of a chance. True, it is a team that is in transition and their four stalwarts are ageing, however, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga are still capable of delivering the goods with world class performances. Had it not been for the experience of Jayawardene, Afghanistan would have created the first major upset in the 11th World Cup.
Bangladesh will hope for a good day’s outing. Ideally, they need to bat first if they can and play normal cricket. Tamim Iqbal, who seems to be somewhat tentative, will need to loosen up and get rid of his goose bumps along with a few of the others. The top four or five cannot be victims of soft dismissals that we see happen far too frequently. If Bangladesh is to reach the 280 mark, the top order has to come through. Sri Lanka’s bowling in the middle overs is better than Afghanistan’s or for that matter, most other teams. Most of all, Rangana Herath, is a natural wicket taker and Bangladesh needs to deny him the glory if it needs to stay in the match. Matches are won or lost in the middle overs and Bangladesh needs to win both sessions covering the middle overs.
We saw the Indian spinners shackle the fancied South African batting line up. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja never lost control and this should encourage Shakib al Hasan and Mahmudullah to go into the match with a wicket taking frame of mind. Can they manage to keep the Lankan batting under control? What worries me is that Sangakkara has yet to get a decent score. He looked restless during the Afghanistan match and nearly ran himself out twice before getting a beauty from Hamid Hassan. He will surely be looking for redemption. Sangakkara is a player who, if given the start, ends up scoring big. He is someone who can take the match away in a flash.
On the mental side of things, the sudden forced expulsion of Al Amin Hossain from the squad has raised many eyebrows. Many a tale is coming through the grapevine and none of them speak well about the Bangladesh management. The integrity of the Bangladesh management is being questioned. How this is going to affect the morale of the team remains to be seen. The Bangladesh fans will want the team to put this entire incident behind and focus on the match ahead.
The MCG is a huge arena - one of the largest in the world. I believe the Bangladesh team will be experiencing the magical atmosphere of the MCG for the first time. This can be quite overwhelming but one can expect a large Bangladeshi contingent in the stands to spur them on.
If you are familiar with the history of ancient Roman Gladiators, be informed of this. Rome’s Coliseum was where all the gladiators wanted to make their mark. They fought in small towns, survived each fight and had to prove their worth before they could have the honour to fight before the Emperor in the Coliseum. Needless to mention, Bangladesh has survived the small towns and it is time it justifies its place in world cricket and takes this opportunity to win the hearts of the crowd in what may be termed as the Australian version of the Roman Coliseum.