World Cup 2023: India know that they cannot take Bangladesh lightly, says Sanjay Bangar

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar reckons India cannot take Bangladesh lightly in their fourth match of the ongoing World Cup 2023 at Pune on Thursday. India has got off to a perfect start in the ongoing ODI showpiece, winning all of their first three matches convincingly against Australia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

However, India was recently beaten by Bangladesh by six runs in the Asia Cup and thus they will not want to be complacent. Bangladesh has a potent spin battery and they can trouble the Indian batters on a conducive pitch.

On the other hand, Bangladesh won their opening match against Afghanistan convincingly in the ongoing ODI showpiece but suffered losses against England and New Zealand in their following matches.

“Tight game. I mean India, and Bangladesh are always tight games. In the World Cup 2015, they met us in the quarterfinals. It was a close game. Even in the 2019 World Cup, they came very close to chasing 310 odd, fell short by 30. So India will have to be at their best. Asia Cup (2012), they beat the Indian team, although it was a second-string Indian team.”

“But Indian team knows that they can’t take this game lightly because they would certainly want to catch up with New Zealand and maintain their position right at the top,” Bangar said on Star Sports ahead of the game.

Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan could be a doubtful starter as he sustained a quad injury against New Zealand.

On the other hand, India has been ticking all the right boxes as a unit as their bowling battery has done a fine job. Jasprit Bumrah returned with impressive figures of 2-19 in the last match against Pakistan whereas Indian skipper Rohit Sharma scored a blistering knock of 63-ball 86.

Furthermore, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj have also delivered for the team.