ICC World Cup 2011 opening fixture: India looking for revenge against Bangladesh
ICC World Cup 2011 is all set to begin with the opening fixture between two host teams, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.
This is going to be a very exciting fixture as India are rated as the hot favourites by majority of cricket pundits around the world and Bangladesh on the other hand is emerging as a new force in world cricket.
Another aspect that makes this fixture fiercely competitive is the history between these two teams as India was thrown out of the previous edition of the tournament by Bangladesh and many of the Indian cricketers are taking it as a revenge game.
Even though Bangladesh has the home advantage, India are going to be the clear favourites for this match because of their powerful batting line-up, which has the tendency to post big scores on the board regularly.
Batting is without a doubt the strongest department of the Indian team and will be a huge advantage in the batting friendly conditions of the Subcontinent.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 are spoiled for choices at the moment in the batting department and they would have to take some very difficult decisions when it comes to picking the best eleven in important matches.
However, India's bowling remains the biggest concern for Dhoni and Kirsten and could be exposed in the later stages of the tournament.
So many choices at the same time are always healthy for any team but not in a mega event like the World Cup where a settled unit is required and one does not want to put players under pressure but some of the Indian middle order batsmen would be under a
lot of pressure because of the strong bench strength.
Indian management might have to take a harsh decision of choosing between Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virat-Kohli-c95424, and, Yousaf Pathan.
India (possible playing 11) 1. Sachin Tendulkar 2. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashish-Nehra-c46293
On the other side of the coin, Bangladesh would love to repeat its performance in the 2007 World Cup in front of an adoring home crowd. The fighting spirit of the Bangladeshi team is the most encouraging thing for cricket fans.
The spin bowling department is the biggest strength for Bangladesh and it is bound to be tested against the formidable middle order of India.
Off-late Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan have been bowling quite well and they would have to play a big role if the Bengali Tigers have any realistic chance of upsetting the Indian batting.
Tamim Iqbal, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Junaid-Siddique-c1749 and skipper Shakib Al Hasan are the mainstays of Bangladeshi batting. All of them would have to combine in order to give MS Dhoni and company a challenging total.
Former Bangladesh captain, Mohammad Ashraful, has been quite inconsistent with the bat for the last couple of years and that was the reason why he lost the captaincy.
However, it would not be a bad option for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 to give him some confidence and include him in the playing 11 because he is a true match-winner on his day.
Bangladesh (possible playing 11) 1. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hasan-c61990
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