MELBOURNE — Playing ‘fearless' cricket has been Bangladesh's war-cry at the World Cup but courage alone will not be enough to upset India and its army of blue-clad fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where the teams play their quarterfinal Thursday. After a listless leadup to the tournament, reigning world champion India has turned into a juggernaut, winning all six of their pool matches and drawing as much admiration for their bowling and fielding as its renowned batting prowess. Bangladesh, for all its chutzpah, will simply be happy to be playing off for a semifinal, having never previously made it to the knockout rounds. While the term ‘surprise package' hardly credits the Tigers' impressive tournament, Bangladesh was fortunate to take a point from a washed-out pool match against Australia and met an England side with morale at rock-bottom. Perhaps more impressive than knocking out England was pushing New Zealand in the dead rubber loss. Batsman Mahmudullah's second consecutive One-Day International ton against New Zealand's quality attack was complemented by another disciplined effort by the bowlers, underlining the strides they have made since being flayed by Sri Lanka in their second completed pool match. Captain Mashrafe Mortaza will need his rejuvenated seamers to heap pressure on India's powerful batting lineup early or it could be a long, noisy day at the MCG. “We know that 95,000 people will come to the ground and most of them will be Indian supporters, but as a professional cricketer I have to concentrate on cricket so have to handle it,” Mashrafe told reporters on Wednesday. “Obviously, Bangladesh supporters will be there so we cannot ask for equal but we'll be fine.” Bangladesh has won only three One-Day Internationals in 28 against India but two have been at major tournaments. The last was at the 2012 Asian Cup, which followed a shock win at the 2007 World Cup. For a team whose place in the top tier has forever been questioned, Bangladesh's 2007 upset in the Caribbean did more to re-shape the tournament than any other result in recent decades. India's unexpected demise in the first round caused financial carnage for broadcasters and the tournament was subsequently re-jigged to ensure cricket's most bankable team would be guaranteed a minimum six matches. Melbourne's big Indian community and army of traveling fans will be in force at the MCG to cheer Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team into an eighth match, just as they were for the match against South Africa. A crowd of 87,000 turned the venue into a deafening cauldron for the Proteas, who froze to be overwhelmed by 130 runs. Bangladesh made its debut at the ground against Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament and was embarrassed by an abysmal fielding display. It comes with a far different team to the rabble that were thumped by 92 runs by the Sri Lankans, though, and have nothing to lose. A defeat for India by its subcontinental neighbor, who it has long dictated to both on and off the field, would be an unthinkable humiliation, however. “People are really pumped up for the quarterfinals,” India batsman Suresh Raina told reporters. “It's the quarterfinal stage now, you don't have much room for error. You just need to do everything right, whether you're bowling, batting or fielding.” India has been transformed by the batting of Shikhar Dhawan (337 at 56.16) and Virat Kohli (301 at 75.25), while Mahendra Singh Dhoni has regained his touch as a clear-thinking finisher allied to his steely leadership. India's bowlers struggled for two months in Australia before the World Cup, but have dismissed the opposition in every single World Cup game so far, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav all into double figures of wickets. Plenty in the Indian team are contributing and therein lies Bangladesh's stiff task of pulling off their finest victory under the circumstances of a pressure sudden-death match at the MCG. “We have the same kind of pressure (as playing at home in the last World Cup),” Dhoni said. “Irrespective of which team we play or which tournament we play, we are under pressure. “The good thing, the boys are quite used to it. A few times, there have been instances where we are down, but from that position, also, we have come back strongly and we have done well.” Bangladesh vice captain and star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan refuses to be undaunted by the massive challenge. “India have a very good team, they are the defending world champions, they've got some world class players but we're doing well in this World Cup, our confidence is high enough and we're up for the match,” Shakib said. “Obviously, on pen and paper, India is a better team than Bangladesh, no-one has any doubt about it. “But on the day it's a one-off game and if we have a good day and they have a bad day, you never know.” The winner will bid for a place in the final against either Australia or Pakistan, who play their quarterfinal in Adelaide Friday. — Agencies
