IND vs BAN: “I Think Bangladesh Fans Are The Strength Of The Bangladesh Cricket Team And I Say That Because....” – Dinesh Karthik

The 37-year-old India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik believes that the fans are the real strength of the Bangladesh National Cricket Team as they turn up to the stadiums all across the globe to watch the matches of the Bangla Tigers.

Bangladesh National Cricket Team are all set to lock horns with India National Cricket Team in a three-match ODI series and a two-match Test series, which is part of the India tour of Bangladesh 2022. The ODIs will be played on December 4, 7 and 10 while the Test matches will be played from December 14 to 18 and from December 22 to 26.

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In an interview with Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik was asked about his take on the passionate Bangladesh fans. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter replied:

“I think the Bangladesh fans are the strength of the Bangladesh cricket team and I say that because even in a country like Australia where we just played the World Cup, there were big numbers of people turning out for a Bangladesh games. Sometimes for the host nation, the crowd was less but for the Bangladesh games it went full.”

Dinesh Karthik added that Bangladesh is a “terrific cricketing nation” and they have developed good rivalries with Asian nations. He elaborated:

“And they have developed a fabulous rivalry with Sri Lanka in the recent past.. and the fact that even the India game they really pushed us in that game as well, so.. it is a terrific cricketing nation and a lot of credit to them because of the passion, it is seen through in the way they play their cricket.

“They, like India, are under enormous pressure when they go to ICC tournaments as well.. to play to a certain level and it is fabulous to see. I think it is fair to say that the Asian fans make up a large chunk of cricket followers around the world itself and Bangladesh are very strong and vociferous when it comes to how much they support their Bangladesh team. Not many games when India play there is a 50-50 or 60-40 towards India but, the Bangladesh game [in WC] was one such game where you did find a lot of Bangladesh supporters.”

I think the Nidahas Trophy final – Dinesh Karthik on his favourite India vs Bangladesh memory

The 37-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was further asked about his favourite memory from the India-Bangladesh games. Dinesh Karthik responded:

“For me personally, I think the Nidahas Trophy final.. there was a lot riding on it and interestingly they had developed a very big rivalry with Sri Lanka, which enabled all of SL to support India, which meant that there was a full house and every person in that ground was supporting India and it was a fabulous match.. a curtain-ending game for the season and what a final it was! I think it was a young team, we had a lot of debutantes going into that series and we really played well as a unit.”

Notably, Dinesh Karthik batted exceptionally well in the Nidahas Trophy 2018 final against Bangladesh and his heroics helped the Men In Blue win the trophy. He smashed unbeaten 29 runs off 8 balls in the final to take India past the finish line.

Also Read: IND vs BAN: “World Cup Is Still 8-9 Months From Now, We Cannot Think So Far Ahead” – Rohit Sharma