India won't take Bangladesh lightly

Going by current form, Bangladesh will need nigh a miracle to pull the rug from under India's feet in Thursday's tri-series match. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his teammates sound cautious enough not to step on the banana skin.
India certainly look every inch the tournament favourites after thumping Pakistan by 140 runs and snapping their 12-match winning spree on Tuesday night.
Dhoni lauds openers after win
Indicating that the team will not lower its guard even against the minnows, Dhoni said he wants to maintain a clean slate.
Images: India vs Pakistan
"We got to win every match. In fact, it is not about winning and losing. It is all about going out there and playing to your potential and strength," he said.
"Everybody wants to win. It was a good game of cricket against Pakistan yesterday. Hopefully, rain will not interfere tomorrow," he added, almost indicating that only divine intervention can help the hosts, practically on the way out after Pakistan spanked them by 70 runs in the tri-series opener.
Dhoni though refused to underestimate Bangladesh, saying they are no pushovers.
"They have enough depth in both batting and bowling and they should not be rated by one innings, when they lost to Pakistan.
"We always look to the present. We will look to win over Bangladesh and then go in to the final, where we want to play to our potential. Then think about Asia Cup, our next tournament, and set a plan in place for a positive result," he said.
There, however, remains one worry in the Indian camp -- difficulty in sighting the soiled ball after 20 overs.
"They have used black soil on the track. The ball gets ruffed up after 20 overs. It was really difficult to sight the ball," he said.
Bangladesh's batting order has an obvious brittle look to it even though their bowlers did their best against Pakistan and shot out Shoaib Malik's team inside 40 overs.
In contrast, India appear invulnerable. The star-studded batting line-up looks rock solid and it needed half centuries from just three batsmen to post a mammoth total of 330 for eight against Pakistan.
If the Delhi duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir can put together yet another strong start, it will allow their batting colleagues play their strokes with unbridled aggression.
Among the bowlers, Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla ran through the Pakistani line-up and, in all likelihood, Bangladesh should prove easy meat for both.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, R P Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and M S Gony.
Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (c), Mashrafe Mortaza, Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Abdur Razzak, Farhad Reza, Shahriar Nafees, Nazimuddin, Raqibul Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehrab Hossain (Jr), Dolar Mahmud.

Gony replaces Sreesanth in Indian Squad:

Punjab seamer Manpreet Gony was on Saturday included in the Indian squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh after paceman S Sreesanth [Images] was ruled out due to a side strain, sustained in an Indian Premier League [Images] match.
"Due to non availability of Sreesanth, it was decided by the selection committee to send Manpreet Gony for Bangladesh tri-series," Niranjan Shah, BCCI Secretary, said in a media release.
Sreesanth doubtful
"Sreesanth was yesterday assessed by Dr. Kinja at Bangalore. He has got a left-sided external oblique strain. He would require about 2 weeks for recovering from the current situation and getting back to his normal bowling routine," the press release added.
The Punjab bowler thus becomes the third player who has been rewarded for his good performance in the recently concluded inaugural Indian Premier League.
Gony, who has played just five-first class matches, had claimed 17 wickets in 16 matches for the IPL runners-up Chennai Super Kings [Images] at an average of 26.05.
Baroda all rounder Yusuf Pathan and Hyderabad spinner Pragyan Ojha were earlier given ODI calls for the tri-series.
The Kerala [Images] pacer would now undergo a two-week rehabilitation programme and will be available for the Asia Cup, to be held in Pakistan.
"He will be available for Asia Cup 2008 to be played at Pakistan. Mr. Sreesanth rehabilitation will be organised at NCA in Bangalore," the BCCI press release said.
Meanwhile, Gony said a successful IPL stint has made him a better bowler and he was looking forward to give his best in his first national assignment.
"IPL has given me great exposure. You rarely get a chance to bowl to so many world class batsmen and this experience has made me a better bowler. (Chennai Super Kings) coach Kepler Wessels made a slight adjustment to my action, helped me hit the deck harder and bowl at right areas.
"But, I will look to have a fresh start when I bowl in the tri-series, where I will also get opportunity to bowl a longer spell which should help me show my abilities," Gony, who has played just five first class matches, told PTI.
"It is like a dream come true. It was always my dream to play for my country. When I got the call from a BCCI official today informing about my selection in the team for the tri-series, my joy knew no bounds," said the 24-year-old right-arm seamer.
The 6'4" tall cricketer from Mohali, who took 17 wickets from 16 games in the IPL, does not seem to be bothered about pressure of making India debut, though he adds "only pressure on me will be to perform well".
Gony said he was surprised when he was bought in the IPL players' auction by the Chennai Super Kings team owners.
"After an ordinary first class debut, getting the call from an IPL franchise came as a surprise. However, I feel taking eight wickets in two Deodhar Trophy matches for North Zone helped me catch the eye of the team owners.
"IPL has been a great learning experience for young cricketers like me. Though schedule was hectic, but I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it," he said.
Gony praised his Chennai Super Kings skipper M S Dhoni [Images] for showing faith in him during the Twenty20 extravaganza.
"My skipper showed great faith in me. He is a real guiding force and all the players enjoyed playing under him.
In addition, (South African pacer) Makhaya Ntini [Images] used to interact with me regularly and I got the opportunity to talk to many international players which also helped me a lot," he said.

India-Bangladesh-Pakistan tri series schedule:

Everyone has been really looking forward to the tri-series being held in Bangladesh, specially after the IPL matches which have left people wanting for more cricketing action. The countries taking part are India, Pakistan and hosts’ Bangladesh.
The schedule for the Bangladesh tri-series is as under :
Sun 8th June1st Match - Bangladesh v Pakistan Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Tue 10th June2nd Match - India v Pakistan Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Thu 12th June3rd Match - Bangladesh v India Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sat 14th JuneFinal - TBC v TBC Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur

Indian squad for tri-series:

Baroda all rounder Yusuf Pathan and young Hyderabad left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha were today rewarded for their impressive showing in the Indian Premier League by being named in India's 15-member cricket squad for for next month's tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan.
The national selectors also recalled talented Uttar Pradesh batsman Suresh Raina in the squad for both the tournaments, while ignoring senior pros Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, icon players in the ongoing IPL, for the second tri-series in succession. Sachin Tendulkar had already been ruled out of both the tournaments because of a groin injury.
The 21-year-old Raina, who last played a ODI in January, 2007, edged out other contenders like his Chennai Super Kings teammate Subramaniam Badrinath, Delhi's Shikhar Dhawan and Hyderabad's Venugopal Rao who have done well in the IPL.
The selectors have put a question mark on the ODI career of both former captains Dravid and Ganguly, who had earlier been dropped for the previous tri-series won by the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side in Australia for the first time ever, by leaving them out of the limited overs loop again.
The teams for the June 8-14 triangular ODI event in Bangladesh, also featuring the hosts and Pakistan, and the June 24-July 6 Asia Cup in Pakistan were announced by Cricket Board's secretary Niranjan Shah after a selection committee meeting which lasted about one hour.
The selectors made five changes in the team that created history under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership by winning the tri-series in Australia for the first time ever in March.
Tendulkar, who has not yet recovered fully from his groin injury that forced him to miss two home Tests against South Africa and the first seven IPL games for Mumbai Indians, the banned Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Dinesh Kaarthick and Manoj Tiwary were those left out of that squad.
Sending out a strong message, Harbhajan, banned by BCCI for five ODIs for slapping Sreesanth after the IPL game between his team (Mumbai Indians) and Punjab King's Eleven at Mohali on April 25, was left out of the Asia Cup squad though he would have served out his ban after India's first two ties in Pakistan.
The thrust of the selectors seems clearly on youth with Yusuf, elder brother of Irfan, being 25 years of age and Ojha, 21. Raina, who has played 36 ODIs, is only 21.
Yusuf's performance as a hard-hitting top order batsman for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, after a lone appearance in the final of the T20 World Cup in South Africa against Pakistan which India won to be crowned the format's emperors last September, seems to have swung things in his favour.
The Baroda player can also bowl flat off breaks and has come into the squad for the utility value he brings to the side.Ojha is not very experienced even at the first class level, having played only 30 matches, but the unavailability of the more experienced Murali Kartik, due to an injury sustained in the IPL, has giving him a chance to show his mettle at the international level. With both Tendulkar and Ganguly not in the squad, Virender Sehwag and his Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir, who is also in very good form, are the two specialist openers.
The spin department lacks experience with young Piyush Chawla, who has been quite impressive in the IPL, and Ojha being the two specialist spinners.
The pace department, however, looks quite good with Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar having to share the pace load.

The team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Yuvraj Singh (Vice-capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, S Sreesanth, Yusuf Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, R P Singh, Piyush Chawla and Pragyan Ojha