Mashrafe Mortaza thinks Bangladesh have moved on from heartache against India

Done with the tough part of making it through the league phase, Indian captain Virat Kohli says opposition hardly matters in the Champions Trophy semifinal and final even though an India-England final is what everybody seems to want.

Historically, whenever India takes on Bangladesh, for the average Indian cricket fan it is not really much of a “contest”.

“Going into a big game like this, we’re going to treat it as how we treated the last game”.

Defending champions India will aim to live up to their tag of title contenders and dominate Bangladesh in the second semi-final of the Champions Trophy cricket tournament in Birmingham on Thursday.

Mahmudallah will also look to add strength to the side’s batting while openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar will have to give the team a good start against India.

As a result, the clash between India and Bangladesh has become highly charged, where losing out will not go down well for both the sides, particularly Bangladesh which is looking for that one chance to take the revenge.

“They – Bangladesh – are already a consistent side and nobody is surprised anymore that they are doing well”. But still, I believe we have a lot more to do in that level. They showed composure the way they chased down the total on the other day (against New Zealand) which is always a sign of maturity. “They showed a lot of composure and patience, and that is always a sign of a side that is mature now, that knows how to win matches from hard situations”.

They went in with four pace bowlers for the match against New Zealand, bringing Taskin Ahmed into the playing XI. It is as if Bangladesh is fighting two India’s together.

The battle between the two teams sparked controversies too. We played the Asia Cup final before but it’s a different stage from playing a semifinal for the first time in a tournament that is similar to the World Cup. While India-Pakistan is one of the world’s biggest sporting rivalries, Bangladesh are fast emerging as a worthy competitor. There is talk about Mahmudullah’s promotion to number three position but I don’t think it will be wise at this moment. Despite being a good player, the 35-year-old faced the trauma of cancer due to which he had to stay away from cricket for around 3 years.

Replays showed that the decision was a borderline call, certainly nothing to get as worked up about as Bangladesh’s players did.

Cricket matches, it’s time to remind everyone, aren’t won by conspiracy theories.

He feels that there is absolutely no reason to drop Ashwin and bring back Umesh Yadav, who had been brilliant in the practice match against Bangladesh. “And our mindset does not differ”, Kohli said on the eve of the match.

“The team played really well – in the last match – it was a complete performance and I really don’t see a need for any change”, those were the words of a confident captain who knows he has found his best combination.