Bangladesh look to whitewash India
Sports Reporter
Bangladesh are determined to go out in the field with all guns blazing, to inflict a whitewashlocally known as Banglawashon India, as they face the neighbouring country today in the third
and last match of the
one-day international series at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The
day-and-night match will start at 3pm.
Following a 3-0 clean sweep against Pakistan, another series win over India would also give Bangladesh the rare honour of whitewashing two mighty sub-continental giants in the space of just three months.
We are not thinking of a whitewash or Banglawash. Its just another match, and well go out to win it with all guns blazing, like the other two matches, said all-rounder Nasir Hossain.
Winning 10 matches on the trot, and beating the giants comprehensively, vastly improved Bangladeshs ICC ODI ranking as they are in the seventh spot, leapfrogging teams like West Indies and Pakistan. They have already confirmed their berth in the Champions Trophy in England 2017. The series win against Pakistan and India clearly proved that Bangladesh have now come of age and may consider themselves a big team.
However, there is a common belief that if Bangladesh could complete a whitewash on India, they should be termed a giant.
Nasir Hossain said no player of Bangladesh thinks that they are a big team, as they know very well that the bigger challenges lie ahead. I dont want to say that were a big team at this point. I think we are yet to be bracketed with the big teams because we are winning on home soil at the moment. Thats the big factor, he said, adding, We have to perform well regularly and win the series on a regular basis in the coming two or three years if we want to consider ourselves a big team. If we can do that, we can claim ourselves to be a giant.
Given their current form, Bangladesh are now favourites to extend their winning streak and complete a whitewash.
The Men in Blue will undoubtedly be keen onwinning the last match and saving face, as a whitewash would really be embarrassing for the team which reached the semi-final of the World Cup earlier this year. But they will have to plug all the loopholes to get the better of a spirited Bangladesh.
They have been virtually outplayed in all departments of the game by Bangladesh and, most importantly, the performance of their middle-order batsmen has been dismal.
The mighty Indians have simply been outfoxed by the 19-year-old left-arm pacer, Mustafizur Rahman, whose lethal off-cutter has proved to be decisive in destroying the much-vaunted batting line-up and inflicting psychological damage.
Despite the threat of a whitewash, Indian
off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, the most successful bowler for India so far in the series, said they would play like free birds in the dead rubber.
We should be honest in admitting the fact that we havent played flamboyant cricket. We havent come out of a shell. However, the dressing-room atmosphere has been just like what it was in the past. We are used to the fact that we do lose a few games and do win a lot. So, well surely go out and play as positively as we can.
