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T20 World Cup: India v Bangladesh

Ed Hawkins wonders whether Bangladesh can stun MS Dhoni's India as the world champions begin the defence of their T20 title under the lights at Trent Bridge

In a surprise move, the whole Indian team turned up at a press conference on Friday to deny reports of a rift between senior players. The skipper, MS Dhoni, read out a short statement claiming the team was "as good as it has ever been with each individual supporting each other on and off the field."

Talk is cheap and if there are problems within the camp then the place which they will surface is out on the field, starting against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
It is unlikely there is a rift, though. India have looked a tight unit in their warm-up matches and had there been problems they would surely not have beaten Pakistan with such ease.

Bangladesh have tried four different opening combinations in warm-ups. Tamin Iqbal is certain to bat at No 1 while in pole to be his partner appears to be Junaid Siddique.

It is important to be aware that under lights at Trent Bridge, swing bowlers could enjoy themselves. In the five 50-over floodlit internationals played in Nottingham three have been won by the side batting first. The other two matches resulted in wins for the side batting second but they were chasing small totals. Light rain is forecast.

Bangladesh have performed creditably in their warm-ups - they made 181 against Australia - and are unlikely to fear India. Don't forget they dealt them a terrible blow by sending them packing from the previous 50-over World Cup.

If they are to reduce their odds - let alone spring a surprise - one of their gun players must produce. Mohammad Ashraful, the batsman, and Mashrafe Mortaza, are fine performers while the all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan is a potential star of the tournament.

Mahmudullah, the 23-year-old right-hander, will be the value as Any Other Batsman once the Bangladesh market has settled. He has top scored three times in warm-ups in England and also made a fifty versus the Netherlands. Gautam Gambhir, at [3.70], is India's favourite. Look out for Suresh Raina and Sharma, however.

India vs Bangladesh T20 Preview

England v Netherlands Match Preview

Hosts England will face Netherlands in the first game of the ICC World T20 2009 on the 5th of June in a Group B encounter.

The Netherlands had only played four Twenty20 internationals before arriving in England but after some shaky performances, they seem to have discovered their best XI with Eric Szwarczynski likely to drop out, having lost his opening batting slot to Alexei Kervezee and one of Tom de Grooth or Peter Borren taking the final middle order slot.

The twelve who England put out against West Indies on Wednesday suggested that Graham Napier, Rob Key and Owais Shah will be the men to miss out here. Given the flat nature of the Lord's pitch and the fact that spinners do well in this form of the game, they may be tempted to play both Adil Rashid and Graeme Swann which means that one of the seamers will miss out, possibly James Anderson, given Stuart Broad's greater facility with the bat.

While England will go into the game as overwhelming favourites, they will do well to remember that the Scotts had given them a run for their money in the first warm-up game. Chasing a mediocre total, England had needed 19 of the 20 overs to get there, and at one stage, things had started looking interesting for the underdogs. It is often said about cricket that when you think that you have had it by the scuff of its neck, it bites you in the bum, and there is no other format like T20 that underlines this saying more! England will need to be wary of being complacent against their lesser opponents.

This is not to say that England doesn’t have the personnel to crush any such surprising resurgence. Ravi Bopara smashed a half century against the West Indies in the warm-up, in turn continuing with the purple patch that he has been in ever since the start of the Indian Premier League. On the other hand, Kevin Pietersen’s surprise admission that he is not a very good T20 player may just be a ploy to keep the pressure off him or a candid expression of the truth. Given his scores in the Indian Premier League as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, it does look like the latter.

Although there have been four warm-up games at this venue over the last few days, they can't really be taken at face value, given that these matches have been played with varying levels of intensity.

Of more relevance might be the two Twenty20 Cup games played here this season, in which Surrey racked up 186 and Kent managed 191, both teams batting first. Admittedly, the Middlesex bowling was pretty toothless, but nonetheless, with previous Twenty20 Cup scores here exceeding 200 on occasions, we can safely assume this is a good batting track. There doesn't appear to be too much disadvantage batting second here, even in day-night games, other than the pressure that comes with having to chase what is usually a big score.

2009 ICC World Twenty20

The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 is a Twenty20 cricket tournament scheduled to take place in England in 4th June 2009.It will be the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament, following the inaugural event in South Africa in September 2007. As before, the tournament will have 12 teams compete - the Test-playing nations and three qualifiers.
The 2009 event may involve just 8 teams in a 9-day event, the full 12-team tournament was confirmed, featuring the Test-playing nations and two qualifying associate nations. However, in July 2008 Zimbabwe, under pressure from South Africa and England over political matters related to Robert Mugabe, pulled out of the tournament of their own volition, creating an additional space for an associate nation.

Qualification was achieved by the finalists of the tournament held in Belfast from 2-4 August 2008, between Kenya, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada and Bermuda. Ireland and the Netherlands, having reached the final, qualified outright, while Scotland won the third place playoff to also qualify.

Groups:

The groups were revealed on 31 October 2007, based on finishing positions at the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and the successful qualifying associate nations. The initial four group format is the same as that used at the 2007 tournament.

In Group A

• India
• Bangladesh
• Ireland

In Group B

• Pakistan
• England
• Netherlands

In Group C

• Australia
• Sri Lanka
• West Indies

In Group D

• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Scotland

Fixtures Of Group Match

5 June 2009
16:30 GMT D/N

England v Netherlands
Lord's, London

6 June 2009
09:00 GMT

Scotland v New Zealand
Kennington Oval, London

6 June 2009
13:00 GMT

Australia v West Indies
Kennington Oval, London

6 June 2009
17:00 GMT D/N

Bangladesh v India
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

7 June 2009
12:30 GMT

Scotland v South Africa
Kennington Oval, London

7 June 2009
16:30 GMT D/N

England v Pakistan
Kennington Oval, London

8 June 2009
12:30 GMT

Bangladesh v Ireland
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

8 June 2009
16:30 GMT D/N

Australia v Sri Lanka
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

9 June 2009
12:30 GMT

Pakistan v Netherlands
Lord's, London

9 June 2009
16:30 GMT D/N

New Zealand v South Africa
Lord's, London

10 June 2009
16:30 GMT D/N

India v Ireland
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

10 June 2009
12:30 GMT

Sri Lanka v West Indies
Trent Bridge, Nottingham