Bangladesh v India, Asia Cup

Bangal Tigers captains say that they give India tough time in today match.

Match facts

March 16, 2012
Start time 1400 (0800 GMT)

 The worry for Bangladesh is that a lot of their chief weapons fired in the tournament opener, Pakistan played below par, yet Bangladesh still lost. Their two world-class batsmen - Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan - got half-centuries, their rising star Nasir Hossain made a substantial contribution, and their left-arm spinners were miserly.

There was even the bonus of a three-wicket burst from one of their medium-pacers. There is still room for improvement, of course, but Bangladesh's tendency in recent months has been to underperform rather than exceed expectations, and it is hard not to feel they have already produced their performance of the tournament. 
Kohli and Gambhir key of INDIA

India cannot afford to think that way, but even without Virender Sehwag around to call Bangladesh "ordinary", they will be confident they can handle whatever the home team throws at them. The 2007 World Cup upset apart, India have been dominant against Bangladesh, their batsmen collecting plenty of runs against an attack suited to India's strengths. The challenge for India, perhaps, will be to put in a tight performance with the ball and in the field, rather than just rely on their batsmen to outscore Bangladesh. They started the Commonwealth Bank series with some impressive performances in the field but a familiar profligacy and sloppiness set in as the tournament progressed. With a long stretch of subcontinent cricket ahead of them, India will be hoping their spinners can start exercising the same sort of control over the opposition as they did in the home series against England and West Indies last year. 
Did Sachin complete his 100th Century today.

 

Forget the hundredth hundred, Sachin Tendulkar was not even able to go past 50 in the CB series, and averages 18.62 in eight ODIs this year. That is the kind of poor form that should put any player under pressure to keep his place, even if it is Tendulkar. He did not look too tense at India's optional training session on Wednesday, but cannot ignore his lean run of form. Weaker opposition and familiar conditions offer perhaps his best opportunity to get a big score. He has never scored an ODI hundred against Bangladesh and will want to change that so he can go in to the high-profile match against Pakistan with some confidence.