King Kohli roars in subduing Bangla Tigers ! - Singhe - who ?!?

Team India is really on a roll !!   have you seen batsman frowning when bowler bowls a wide !!

 

Bangladesh is capable of big upsets  - they call themselves ‘Bangla Tigers’ -  Royal Bengal Tigers are found   in Sundarban, situated in the bengal delta.”Bagher bachcha “ (son of a tiger) is a common phrase in Bengal. Upto the nineteenth century almost all the southern part of Bengal (Twenty four parganas, Calcutta,Hoogly) had abundance of Tiger population.  

To some whom would dismiss this as an ordinary win and Bangladesh as less than ordinary side, India - Bangladesh has been a rivalry that has been brewing over the past few years as the two-time World Champions have found the Bangla Tigers to be a tough nut to crack in recent times. 

The recent record for India against Bangladesh, after the 2019 World Cup, hasn't been good.  In the four matches played   in the 50-over format after the World Cup in England, Bangladesh have beaten India three times, with the latest coming in the Asia Cup 2023.  Mehidy and Mustafizur Rahman pulled off a one-wicket win, it was their closest win against a higher-ranked side. Three days after Mehidy engineered that first miracle in Dhaka, Bangladesh clinched a tough five-run win to seal the ODI series. It ensured India remained without an ODI series win in Bangladesh for nine years, having last won in 2014. Then came the Asia Cup win in September, by six runs, another instance of Bangladesh holding their nerve. 

Today they were swept out by a dominant Indian side.  Bangla won the toss – India persisted with Shardul Thakur leaving out Ashwin and Shami and ..  Shreyas Iyer played again.  

The loss hurts more for Bangla as the next time, when they likely would play ODI WC in 2027, the team composition would have undergone drastic change with golden generation fading away.  Star, Capt Shakib Al Hasan has already announced that he will not play one-day cricket after the 2025 Champions Trophy and T20Is after next year`s World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean. Mushfiqur Rahim is 36 and does not keep wickets regularly anymore. He would be in his 40s when the next World Cup arrives. Mahmudullah, whose century against England in the 2015 World Cup powered one of the biggest wins in Bangladesh cricket history is 37+ now ..    

Today they started well almost reaching 100 without loss in 15 overs [Tanzid Hasan got out in 14.5 with score at 93 !] – wickets kept falling regularly.  Hardik Pandya was injured and that saw King Kohli complete the over. 

 

Chasing 257 – Indians were 229/3 after 38 overs – with Rahul fluent at 33 and Kohli striking superbly, win was assured but not many thought of Kohli racing to finish in style.   Later stages the win was not in Q – whether Kohli could complete his century was !! 

King Kohli has 48 ODI centuries now !! – gottenwith that big hit over the mid-wicket.  Before you dwell on some statistics -  Bangla has a formidable support staff strength.    

Not Tigers, but Lions !  Sinha is a Sanskrit term and surname which originates in the Indian subcontinent. The surname is commonly used by the Kayasthas, and is common in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "lion" or "brave person".  In Lanka, there is ‘Singhe’ -   first part of the word, 'Sinha' stands for lion while 'la' or 'le' stands for blood, giving the meaning 'Lion's blood'.   Remember few Singhes have played for Lanka - Madurasinghe Arachchige Wijayasiri Ranjith Madurasinghe; Pramodya Wickramasinghe, and  Hathurasinghe!  

Former India left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram is Bangla’s technical consultant; team director Mahmud,   head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe (the man at the start), assistant coach Nic Pothas, fast-bowling coach Allan Donald, spin-bowling coach Rangana Herath, fielding coach Shane McDermott, and assistant fielding coach Faisal Hossain.   Chandika was an opening batsman and a medium pacer who played 26 tests and 35 ODIs.  

1983 World Cup was watershed event for India -  Kapil Dev’s epic 175* was the first century ever by an Indian in ODI  .. ..  we had to wait for more as Ravi Shastri made the 2nd ton playing against Australia at Indore in Oct 1984, Dilip Vengsarkar made 105 against England at Pune in Dec 1984; Shastri made another at Cuttack and then Krish Srikkanth made a flamboyant  102 off 104 balls against Australia at Jaipur in Sept 1986; a month later Raman Lamba made one at Rajkot.  

Now India tops the ODI centurions list – the sweety Sachin Tendulkar has 49; King Virat Kohli has 48 and Rohit has 31.  Sachin’s 49 tons came in 463 ODIs while Kohli has made 48 in just 285 !  - Rohit’s 31 is from 255.  

In 285 matches – Kohli has bowled few times and has 4 wickets too !!  -  his victims are :  Alastair Cook, Craig Kieswetter,  Quinton de Kock & Brendon McCullum.  

For sure Indian win has made most other Coaches scratch their strategies and discussing more in stepping up their performance.  India will continue to bench their star spinner and continue with some who fail !!

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
19.10.2023