Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan sends out a warning to Mahendra Singh dhoni's Indians two days before their World Cup opener in Mirpur
Bangladesh skipper Shakibu00a0Al Hasan sends out a warning to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Indians two days before their World Cup opener in Mirpur Bangladesh cricket Shakib Al Hasan reacts after dismissing Canada's Karl Whatham during their ICC World Cup warm-up tie in Chittagong on Saturday.
Four years ago, a Habibul Bashar-led Bangladesh, shattered a billion-plus nation's World Cupu00a0 hopes when they beat Rahul Dravid's Team India in the very first round of the quadrennial event in the West Indies.
This time, it will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Men in Blue taking on Shakib Al Hasan's Bangladeshu00a0 in their backyard in the World Cup opener on February 19. And Shakib indicates there's reason to believe that history will repeat itself on Saturday.
Excerpts from an interview with the 23-year-old all-rounder.u00a0 
PIC/AFP
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Do you really think Bangladesh can beat India?
Wherever I go, I have to face the same query since we beat the Indians at Trinidad in the 2007 World Cup. Before that, no one bothered to ask us such questions whenever we played against India because we were always beaten by them. We are yet to be tagged the favourite against any of the big teams,u00a0 but I can assure you that we shall try our level best and are prepared to give more than hundred per cent on the field. And yes, we are inspired enough to play a World Cup in front of our own crowd.
The Indians are viewing this as a revenge match...
They have every reason to do so. After all, it was because of our win against them in Trinidad that they could not proceed to the knock-out stage of the 2007 tournament. On that eventful March 17, no one gave us a chance. In fact, we even had our flight reservations done in advance as we were expecting to lose the match and return to Dhakau00a0 soon. But we won by five wickets and the air bookings had to be cancelled and new bookings made in hotels after we entered the second round of the competition.
But the Indians start as favourites here too...
Yeah, but Insallah, we shall play well.
There are at least seven Indian players in this team that featured in that match in Trinidad, and they will be itching for revenge...
That's expected. We all know how the media treated the Indians after their early exit from the 2007 World Cup. In fact, the tournament seemed to have lost its sheen after the Indians went out. But in these four years, we have matured and improved as a team. It will be an exciting match. India are really big, they are cricketing giants, but we are hosting the World Cup for the first time and are concentrating only on playing well and giving it our best.
How many spinners will you field in the XI?
It could be three. Spin is our strength and we will strengthen our plus points. The only area of concern is that we did not get enough opportunities to play international matches before the World Cup. But the advantage is that we are playing in our backyard and are more familiar with the stadium than anyone else. All of us will be extra charged before taking on India. The team is pretty balanced. We are prepared both mentally and physically. We have to be brave and mentally strong to put our best foot forward.
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