Bangladesh

World Cup Teams / Ed Hawkins / 08 February 2011 / Leave a Comment

"Bangladesh will play all of their Group B matches at Mirpur or Chittagong and if they qualify for the quarter-finals and avoid Sri Lanka, they will again be at home"

Bangladesh do not have the best of reputations but Ed Hawkins says we should underestimate them at our peril. In fact, he rates them as a top wager of the tournament

Bangladesh have once made it out of the pool sections in their three World Cup appearances. This time around they will never have a better opportunity to make the knockout stages and potentially cause an almighty upset.

Anywhere else in the world apart from the sub-continent, Bangladesh are an unpalatable betting option. But in their own back yard they are a dangerous and thrilling concept. They will play all of their Group B matches at Mirpur or Chittagong and if they qualify for the quarter-finals and avoid Sri Lanka, they will again be at home.

To make the last eight they must beat at least one from India, South Africa, England and West Indies. The latter two sides look most vulnerable given their poor records against spin on dusty surfaces. England were beaten by Bangladesh last summer at Bristol - a surface which closely resembles sub-continental pitches.

India, who they meet in the tournament opener on April 19, will not exactly be brimming with confidence at the prospect of taking on their join-hosts in Mirpur. India are slow starters whatever they do and they were beaten by Bangladesh in the last World Cup in 2007, a defeat that ensured an early exit.

The captain Shakib-al-Hasan
Shakib-al-Hasan is the best one-day all-rounder in the world and this tournament represents an opportunity for him to nail his reputation as a serious player. Whether it is because he plays for a minnow nation or that he is not a big name in the IPL, Shakib is no household name. He should be.

If he played for anyone else, the canny spinner and classy middle-order batsman would be a superstar. He is fourth on the list for top wicket-takers in the last two years and he averages 37 with the bat in the middle order at a hugely impressive strike rate of 89.

The young guns
When Sri Lanka took the world by storm for their 1996 World Cup win, they did so thanks to the blitzkrieg attacks from their openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana (the latter's record was actually quite poor but that has been forgotten in time). Bangladesh will look to emulate the Lankans with Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes.

Tamim is the more attacking of the two. For that, read reckless. He has a strike rate of 94 and is 16th on the list of top runscorers in the last two years. Kayes, three years older than his partner at 24, averages a perfectly respectable 32 and if the pair can get Bangladesh off to a flier then they could take some stopping.

The spin king
Much depends on Abdur Razzak tieing batsmen in knots on the dustbowl surfaces of Mirpur and Chittagong. His record suggests he should have no problem. Razzak, slow left-arm orthodox, has 86 wickets at home in ODIs at an average of 21. He will form a formidable partnership with Shakib.

Best bet: Back Bangladesh at [60.00] to win World Cup with a view to trade