What Second Quarter Final of the ICC 2015 World Cup, between Bangladesh and India When Thursday, March 19, 2015 - 09:00 IST| 03:30 GMT Where Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia The teams India The way India hunted down their opponents one by one in the group stage was nothing short of clinical. The clarity of plans and calmness in their execution was remarkable. The lucidly defined roles were played to the T. The sense of confidence in being unbeaten in the first stage of the tournament combined with the wariness of the knockout stage puts Team India in a good mental space going into the quarter-final. MS Dhoni is a firm believer in continuity. Despite having made it to the knockouts in four games, the Indian captain stayed true to his statement, “The bench-strength will continue to warm the bench” in the next two, refraining from any experimentation. That continuity will bring India comfort now, as will the familiar opponent in their first game of the knockout stage. Talking of familiarity, the MCG factor cannot be discounted. India played a Test and an ODI here against Australia before the World Cup. Their group stage game against South Africa at the MCG attracted more crowd – at least 85 per cent clad in blue – than the Australia-England encounter. Melbourne must feel like Mohali, albeit with a little more assistance on offer for MS Dhoni’s spinners. Bangladesh This is a huge occasion for Bangladesh cricket. For the first time they have made it beyond the group stage in a World Cup. The highlight of their road to the quarter-final was the win over England. They handled pressure better than their on-paper stronger opponents, while retaining their fearless brand of cricket at the same time. They followed that win up by making table-toppers, New Zealand, huff and puff to a three-wicket win. This is Bangladesh’s chance to show that they are much more than the minnows with a knack of spoiling the big boys’ party every once in a while. They did end India’s 2007 World Cup campaign prematurely and defeated them in the last Asia Cup. They have to believe they can do it again. What has separated this World Cup for Bangladesh from the previous ones is the ability of different players to stand up in crunch times. While Mahmadullah has been their leading run-scorer, there have been crucial contributions with the bat from Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar at different points. Mashrafe Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed have backed up Shakib and Rubel Hossain aptly with the ball. That is exactly what Bangladesh will require to get the better of a dominant India – for the whole to be bigger than the sum of their parts. Key players India The Indian pacers have surprised all this World Cup with their relentless discipline and bite. Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma have brought the old cliché, ‘hunting in pack’, to life. Now, with every match being a must-win, the captain would, more than ever before, want his pack of pacers to maintain a stranglehold on the opposition batting. They will be a binding force for the team, their success will manifest into the team’s confidence. Bangladesh The most valuable player for Bangladesh is Shakib Al Hasan. His importance with the bat and ball cannot be overstated. Shakib is also their most experienced player when it comes to facing the Indians with his international and IPL experience. Shakib has the ability to make or break the tricky middle-overs for Bangladesh – as a batsman and a bowler. Stats Average first innings score at Melbourne (overall): 220 Average first innings score at Melbourne (since 2010): 281 Average second innings score at Melbourne (overall): 195 Average second innings score at Melbourne (since 2010): 227 Result summary at Melbourne:

Head-to-head:

Last meeting between both sides in the World Cup: Feb 19, 2011 at Mirpur India 370-4 (50 overs), Bangladesh 283-9 (50 overs). India won by 87 runs Form guide (most recent listed first): India: W, W, W, W, W Bangladesh: L, W, W, L, W Pace vs Spin at Melbourne (Who has been more effective) since 2010

Trivia • A win will give MS Dhoni his 100th win in One-Day Internationals as captain. He will become only the third player to achieve this distinction after Ricky Ponting (165) and Allan Border (107). • Virat Kohli loves playing against Bangladesh. In six innings against Bangladesh he has aggregated 506 runs at an average of 126.50 with three hundreds and two fifties. • Mashrafe Mortaza is the only player who has been present in Bangladesh’s all three wins over India. He won Man of the Match award in two of them! Squads India: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma.

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Aminul Haque, Arafat Sunny, Imrul Kayes, Mahmadullah, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.