Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

CWC 2019 – India v Bangladesh: 5 key talking points. IND vs BAN: 5 key talking points from their 2019 World Cup match.

It’s official. India are in the 2019 World Cup Semi Finals. Bangladesh are out.

India’s 28-run win has continued a string of positive results against Bangladesh in multi-team tournaments. Since India beat Bangladesh in the 2015 World Cup Quarter Final, they enjoyed success against the Tigers in the 2016 Asia Cup Final, 2017 Champions Trophy Semi Final, 2018 Nidahas Trophy Final, 2018 Asia Cup Final and now this.

Bangladesh fans were hoping things would be different this time around. The feeling of being knocked out by India has unfortunately become all-too-common, with the players letting themselves down in key stages in this match. India, on the other hand, have achieved what many expected them to by reaching the Semi Finals.

Here are five talking points from India’s win in front of a special fan!

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1. Rohit Sharma makes the opposition pay, again

This was one of the biggest games in Bangladesh’s cricket history. They needed to be on the money straight away, especially after losing such an important toss on a used pitch. But, Tamim Iqbal dropping their Semi Final hopes, along with a string of other fielding errors, suggested that nerves got the better of them.

Rohit Sharma took advantage. Rohit, who now leads the CWC 2019 run-scorers charts, has been outstanding in this tournament. However, he has lived a charmed life, dropped five times across the campaign, to go with Pakistan’s botched run out in Manchester. But, it takes a fine player to make the opposition pay, and that is what Rohit did, mesmerizing us all with delightful strokeplay that had many thinking of a double century as soon as he raised his bat to celebrate his hundred.

Sharma joined Kumar Sangakkara as the only players to score four hundreds in a single World Cup. In the end, though, I may have to take responsibility for his wicket in the ultimate jinx. His partnership with KL Rahul is going OK, which may prompt India to stick with this pair at the top despite including Mayank Agarwal in the squad.

2. It is sad that Shakib Al Hasan won’t feature in the Semi Finals

It is incredible to think that there are still discussions over whether Shakib is Bangladesh’s best ever cricketer. Truth be told, this was confirmed a decade ago.

This was another magnificent performance by a magnificent cricketer. India’s fast start (69/0) in the first 10 overs spelt real trouble for Bangladesh, but Shakib steadied things in an excellent opening spell. With beautiful flight, dip and spin, Shakib challenged the Indian openers’ inside and outside edges, bowling a 4-over spell that cost just 13. He helped get Bangladesh into the game further with a quality finish to his spell, where he went for just nine runs in his three overs at the death.

Then came his batting. The part of his game that has really come leaps and bounds in this tournament. He held things together, batting with maturity that has sometimes eluded him throughout his career. In the process, he became the first ever player to score 500+ runs and take 10+ wickets in a single World Cup. No player has even achieved even 400+ runs and 10+ wickets in a single edition.

But, Shakib, despite such a great performance, won’t be featuring in the Semi Finals. It is certainly an injustice to the campaign he has had, where few could argue if he was awarded man of the tournament right now. This campaign, despite progression in the 2007 and 2015 edition, can be considered Bangladesh’s best performance. They competed so well, but fell just short – how they would be ruing that tight loss to New Zealand earlier in the tournament.

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3. Jasprit Bumrah rewarded in the wickets column

All of India held their breath as India physiotherapist Patrick Farhat ran over to attend to Jasprit Bumrah who was pointing to his shoulder after attempting to field a ball. Fans know the value of Bumrah, and it shows in the trust they and Virat Kohli have in him.

Think about it. How many times do we find ourselves saying “Bumrah still has a number of overs left. They’ll have to score off Bumrah”? A testament to his skill, Bumrah is on par with Rohit and Virat Kohli as India’s most important players in their quest for World Cup glory.

However, Bumrah hasn’t always been rewarded with the wickets. Again, proof of his quality lies in the fact that teams often try to see him out, but on this occasion he executed the cutters and yorkers beautifully to finish with four wickets. Here, he took the crucial wicket of Sabbir Rahman in the 44th over, just as Bangladesh could believe they were in with a shout. In the big games, if India put runs on the board, they can feel confident with this guy bowling at the death.

Also read: Why Jasprit Bumrah was India’s best bowler against England

4. Bangladesh batsmen waste starts

Shakib Al Hasan was holding things together. With he and Mushfiqur Rahim playing fluently, Bangladesh had right to believe they could pull off the 315 chase needed to keep their tournament alive.

However, old weaknesses crept in for Bangladesh. Each of their top five reached at least 20, with only Shakib going past the next best score of 33. Just as Bangladesh were looking like getting themselves in the contest, they would lose a wicket, with Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim particularly guilty of getting out to very loose shots. From the moment Tamim was unable to amend his drop off Rohit Sharma with the score on 39, Bangladesh had a string of partnerships that read 35, 47 and 41 which told the story.

In the end, Bangladesh missed Mahmudullah’s experience. Also, Mohammad Shaifuddin’s late flurry was a reminder of what could have been. With Shaifuddin a capable batsman at eight, Bangladesh bat deep. They got to the final five overs needing a possible 51, but they lost wickets too regularly in the middle overs and paid the price. The below, courtesy of Harrison Cricket Apps, showcases this fact.

5. Five-star Mustafizur Rahman

A double-wicket maiden in the 39th over gave Bangladesh an avenue right back into the game. After the Fizz should have had Rohit early, he then came back to dismiss the dangerous Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya in a single over. Just 25 then came off his last four overs at the death, taking a further three in the final over to give Bangladesh hope.

This used pitch – perfect for cutters – played right into Mustafizur’s hands. He bowled with great control and purpose, and now sits on 98 wickets in just 53 ODIs.

But, it can again be said that India’s middle order didn’t quite take full advantage of their incredible start. Rohit Sharma fell with the score on 180 with 20.4 overs remaining. With nine wickets in the shed, India managed 134/9 in the next 124 deliveries, which could have been far less had it not been for Rishabh Pant.

The below figure, courtesy of Harrison Cricket Apps, shows India’s lost momentum in the final 20 overs. Indeed, there is work for to do ahead of the Semi Finals if they are to capitalise on fantastic starts.

Download: Making cricket an interactive experience! Discover Harrison Cricket Apps ODI version. For full screenshots, click here.