IND vs BAN: After Two Big Upsets, Can Bangladesh Take Inspiration And Shock India In Pune?

IND vs BAN: England thrashed Bangladesh by 137 runs before they took on Afghanistan in Delhi. The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side were down after losing the first two matches by comprehensive margins.

However, the turn of events on Sunday, October 15, saw the unthinkable happen. An England team which boasts of having a depth like none other were left gasping for breath. Afghanistan first managed to post 284 runs on the board and then exposed the shallow depth of the English team in some style, bundling them out for 215 in 40.3 overs.

While many might argue that Afghanistan are no more minnows, they will surely agree that Netherlands, an Associate Nation, are one, especially in subcontinent conditions. The orange outfit shined in the lap of Himalayas in India to beat title favourites South Africa by 38 runs on Tuesday.

Last Saturday, the Pakistan green was steam rolled at orangish Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In Dharamsala, Netherlands captain Scott Edwards bowed his head in front of Lord Hanuman before unleashing himself on the South Africa green with an unbeaten 78 off 69.

Netherlands, who were once reeling at 112/6 in 27 overs finished at 245/8 in the 43-over per side game. The bowlers also stepped up to reduce the Proteas to 166/9 and then ultimately winning the match by 38 runs. This was their third in the ODI World Cup and first since 2007.

IND vs BAN: Can Bangladesh take inspiration to beat heavyweights India?

Absolutely, Why not? But NO. It's highly unlikely. Unlike Afghanistan and the Netherlands, Bangladesh haven't looked threatening at all. Netherlands reduced Pakistan to 38/3 in their first match before rolling them over for 286 in Hyderabad.

Notably, Pakistan had stationed themselves in the city a week before the start of the mega event. They even played both their practice games at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

But the Netherlands took them by surprise. Even during the chase they were once sitting comfortably at a score of 120/2 in 23.4 overs. Same with Afghanistan. Their captain promised a better batting show ahead of the tournament and Afghanistan walked the talk by scoring 272 against India and followed it up with 284 against England.

Australia were all out for 199 against India. Pakistan could manage to score just 192 against the hosts. England has restricted Bangladesh to 227 in their previous match against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh managed to score 245/9 in 50 overs in their last match against New Zealand. They have faltered while chasing and while batting first. There is uncertainty over the participation of their key bowler, batter and captain - Shakib Al Hasan. He incurred a quad injury in his outing against New Zealand.

Regardless, the form of the opponent is almost irrelevant for India at the moment. They have outplayed the opposition in all the departments of the game and therefore chances of Bangladesh causing an upset is really dim - dimmer than chances of none of the top five India batters firing, and dimmer than the probability of the threatening India bowling unit collectively having a bad day.