We are witnessing a very lively debate among the admirers of Bangladesh cricket from Bangladesh and abroad on social network about team combination.

The noted sports journalist of 1980s and 1990s Farhad Tito has joined from Montreal. Bangladesh needs to try and win at least one of three ODI matches against India to keep their mission for next year’s Champions trophy and next ICC World Cup 2019 in England on the right track.

Bangladesh is much better team in ODI and cricket world agrees now that it can beat any team on its day in this particular format. It is not that India is run away favorite in ODI but they have distinct edge.

The first match is only about 6 hours away and weather forecast says 50% chance of rain interruption. A provision has been created for a reserve day for each match. If rain interrupts at any stage of day one the match will resume on the reserve day from that point. But if cricket is unlucky at this time of the year it can rain for days. Hope this does not happen at least for first ODI.

India has a formidable batting line up and they bat really deep. Many consider it the best in the world now. But we have seen that they have genuine weakness against quality quick bowlers in Australia before and during the last world cup.

Our bowlers Rubel and Taskin created few issues for Indian batting. We now have a very competent pace battery with never say die Mashrafee leading the pack of four. Even the teenager Mustafiz is a surprise package. On the other hand Indians on any wicket are master players of spin and Bangladeshi spinners other than Shakib are not major threat for them.

We wrote in our match preview yesterday to go with a four pronged pace attack and let Shakib and Nasir take care of the spin attack. If required, Soumya and Shabbir can also chip in with few overs. Some enthusiasts including Tito contested. Our argument is that it’s not only Indians are more comfortable playing spin the rain affected outfield causes gripping problem for spinners. We thought Mashrafee and Mustafiz can start the proceeding with the new ball. Both can swing and take advantage of the early conditions. Mustafiz being left hander will have added advantage. If the pair can make early break through then Taskin and Rubel with sheer pace can work like humming bees on Indian batting line up. Shakib may attack the middle and lower middle order better.

Tito argued that Fatullah test was also rain ruined and there also Shakib and Jubair shared all the 6 Indian wickets that fell. We have no reason to disagree. Shakib is there. But Jubair is not in the squad. None of the four pacers that are available now played in the test. The pace attack in the test was pretty ordinary. Bangladesh now has opportunity to surprise India picking all four. If they have to do it that has to be the first match. We know Arafat Sunny is a good spinner. But Indian batsmen play such spinners very often with great authority. In cloudy weather there will be swing in the air and there may seem movement off the wicket. We strongly suggest that Bangladesh should play four seamers for a change.

We do not have to worry much with batting. The squad has nine top quality batsmen including two prospective debutants Liton and Rony from whom seven can be picked. Four pacers and Shakib can be the five men attack with Soumya, Nasir and Shabbir as back up. Arafat Sunny or Taizul had no mentionable success in the world cup. Indian late middle order batting, (Raina, Dhoni and Jadeja) play spin much better than any team. But they are circumspect against genuine pace. Bangladesh has nothing to lose rather plenty to gain.

We will again reiterate that the following team is selected for the first ODI—
 
Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar , Liton K Das , Mushfiqur Rahman , Shakib Al Hasan , Shabbir Rahman , Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Mashrafee Bin Murtaza, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman.

BDST: 0922 HRS, June 18, 2015
AKA

** What is Cooking in Tigers Kitchen?