Chandika Hathurusinghe hoping World Cup upsets inspire Bangladesh against 'scary' India

For the sole purpose of keeping anxiety levels down for the next 24 hours, we will only stick to ODIs only when talking about how Bangladesh have dealt with crunch moments in the past. Digging deep in tough moments has been an issue for Bangladesh for the longest time. Some believe they are still a team that stumbles under pressure, but twin miracles from Mehidy Hasan Miraz against India late last year have somewhat changed that perception.

When Mehidy and Mustafizur Rahman pulled off a one-wicket win, it was their closest win against a higher-ranked side. Three days after Mehidy engineered that first miracle in Dhaka, Bangladesh clinched a tough five-run win to seal the ODI series. It ensured India remained without an ODI series win in Bangladesh for nine years, having last won in 2014.

Then came the Asia Cup win in September, by six runs, another instance of Bangladesh holding their nerve.

However, Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe said that those hard-fought victories aren't the games they are looking at for motivation before they take on India in Pune. Instead, he wants to channel the energy from the two upsets achieved by Netherlands and Afghanistan this week at the World Cup.

"We had success in the recent past against India, but it is a different ball game at the World Cup," Hathurusinghe said on match eve. "We are hoping to have a complete performance. [If] India, the in-form team in the World Cup, have a not-so-good game, and we play to our potential, it will serve us. We need to start well. We are all motivated to win every game from now on.

"Because of what happened in the last week, the World Cup is really opening up. We are all inspired by that. We have six games to go, we still think we can win those games. That's the motivation and inspiration for tomorrow."

More than winning the crunch moments, Bangladesh's immediate concern is getting into that position first of all. After beating Afghanistan to begin, they were beaten by England and New Zealand convincingly. But their seamers could be a point of difference in Pune.

"We are not an unsettled team. We are not performing yet to our expectations," he said. "I know that the players want to do better. We haven't had a complete performance in the batting group. Hopefully this game, as we are playing on a really good pitch, and we are expecting to have a complete batting performance tomorrow.

"Bangladesh's fast-bowling unit can be key tomorrow given the conditions on this wicket. They have done well in the past. If you consider that and their performance in the last two or three games, they would be the first to say that they haven't done enough. They have spoken about it. They can do better than this, and they have done in the past."

Hathurusinghe said that Bangladesh will stick to their strengths when deciding what to do at the toss, if given the option.

"If we win the toss, we decide what's good for us. We won't go by what India is good at or not good at," he said. "India have every area covered. They have strike bowlers up front. [Jasprit] Bumrah has almost come to his best. They have good, experienced spinners for the middle overs. Their top order is firing. They are scary. They are playing without much fear. It also looks like they are enjoying their cricket at the moment."

One thing Hathurusinghe wants to do as the World Cup progresses is to keep the noise from the outside away from the team. That said, he doesn't want Bangladesh fans to stop being passionate. He said he is seeking a balance.

"The passion is the beauty of cricket in this part of the world. That's why we are here," he said. "For the fans. I love it. It won't affect me. I am doing the job. I have to keep the emotion away. Keep the players the best opportunity to prepare for the game. We enjoy the passion.

"The Bangladesh journalists have heard this from me before: if you are not motivated to play for your country, you don't need any other motivation. So he shouldn't be here."

Trying to keep the noise down in Pune will not be practical. It is likely to be a sellout crowd. Even though India's home support will be by far the loudest, Bangladesh's big fans - the Tigers and Bulu Das - have already made heads turn at the venue with their cheering for Bangladesh during practice sessions.

Will these travelling fans get to see Bangladesh triumph over India for the fourth time in 12 months? They can't afford to let any chance slip by, especially in the big moments, and if they do that successfully, who knows?