'190 is the par score at Chinnaswamy'

MASH'S TONIC: The gloom around the Bangladesh team is slowly being lifted, thanks to captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (R), whose antics make all the pressure dissipate. PHOTO: BCB

The M Chinnaswamy Stadium stands on the edge of the picturesque Cubbon Park in Bangalore. It is one of India's famous cricket grounds known for producing runs in a heap. Be it in Tests or ODIs it has produced plenty of runs. A venue where West Indies great Viv Richards made his India debut in 1974 and India's finest Test batsman Saurav Ganguly scored an imperious 239. It also witnessed the 500th Test wicket of legendary leg-spinner and local boy Anil Kumble.

But ask Prashant Rao, one of the three curators of the ground, and he will almost immediately reflect on the hell of a T20 knock that the ground witnessed from West Indies left-hander Christopher Gayle. The lazy genius struck a mind-boggling 175 off just 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in an IPL game in 2014. And that innings contained only 17 sixes and 13 fours!

"That was right up there", said Prashant while talking to group of Bangladeshi reporters yesterday. He was taking care of the ground along with Jacinta Kalyan, the famous female curator who has been a proven asset to the Karnataka State Cricket Association, when he said that this is a pitch "where 190 is a par score" in a T20 game.

He also said that the nature of the wicket hardly changes, be it a Ranji Trophy, Test, ODI or a T20 match.

Going by Prashant's statement Bangladesh are in for turbulent times against a wounded Australia, who lost their opening game against New Zealand at Dharamsala; and of course against the beleaguered hosts India, who are set to have a mouth-watering face-off against bitter rivals Pakistan at the Eden Gardens today.

If India lose to Pakistan, all the focus on Group 2 of this ICC World T20 will be centred on Bangladesh's next two games at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Tigers will take on Australia on March 21 before facing India at the same venue two days later.

And Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza knows better than anybody else what is awaiting them.

"I gave a clear message to our batsmen. Don't expect the bowlers to defend anything less than 175. They will have to score heavily if we are to win a game or two here," said the Bangladesh captain at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel after attending a gym session with Taskin Ahmed.

Batting has remained the biggest headache for the Tigers in the T20 format. A few batsmen like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad and Sabbir Rahman have scored some good runs leading up to the tournament proper, but they are yet to click as a unit, a feature that has been prominent in the ODIs.

Mushfiqur Rahim is yet to hit form, opener Soumya Sarkar has been struggling for runs. Shakib Al Hasan, the only Bangladesh batsman to have played in every Indian ground because of his association with the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, failed to score heavily. He however scored an unbeaten fifty against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in a match that Pakistan won by a massive 55 runs.

After taking a two-day rest, the Tigers will have their first sight of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which has a capacity of 35,000, at their first practice session at this ground. No doubt they will train hard but they have little time to be mentally ready to have a crack at that 190-run barrier if they are to overcome the mighty Australians and a mightier India.