India not underestimating Bangladesh ahead of must-win match

India are currently fourth in the table on net run rate but must beat Bangladesh and South Africa to keep their fate in their own hands

India reached the final of the 2017 Women's World Cup, suffering an agonising nine-run defeat at the hands of England. Five years on, they are in a real battle to even qualify for the semi-finals.

After winning just two of their opening five matches  - a 107-run win over Pakistan and a 155-run victory against West Indies – they are clinging on to fourth place on net run rate but face stiff competition from South Africa, West Indies, England and New Zealand (the latter admittedly an outside bet) to clinch one of the three remaining top four slots.

Pakistan did them a huge favour on March 21, picking up their first World Cup win since March 2009 to deny West Indies valuable two points, but Mithali Raj's side ideally need to win both of their remaining matches – against Bangladesh and South Africa – to keep their fate in their own hands.

But while on paper, India should beat Bangladesh – they lead the head to head record 4-0 – spinner Sneh Rana refuses to take the two points for granted.

"If Bangladesh are part of this World Cup, it means they have performed well in the past to be at such a huge platform," Rana said. "I have seen Bangladesh improving.

"We are playing match by match and irrespective of who it is against – Bangladesh or any other team – we won't take any match easy. As it's a must-win game, we will give our 100 per cent."

^{Bangladesh celebrating against Pakistan [Michael Bradley/Getty Images]}

One of the issues for India in New Zealand has been their inconsistent batting performances, with the team smacking 317 runs past West Indies at one end of the spectrum and twice being bowled out for under 200 runs at the other.

"Ups and downs are part of the game in either department," said Rana, one of six Indian players to score a half-century in the tournament. "We always take the positives from the previous games.

"Our batting unit is doing well now and hopefully will do well in upcoming matches as well. We can't change the past, but we can perform well in upcoming matches as a unit."

However, despite Rana's lack of concern about her side's batting, India will be hoping for big performances from Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur, the only players in their squad with more than 130 runs.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, sit seventh in the table with a precious two points earned from their victory over Pakistan – their first win at a World Cup. With three matches remaining, Nigar Sultana's side are still mathematically in win a shot at the semi-finals but that is unlikely given their opponents are India, Australia and England.

The matches are instead a rare opportunity to pit themselves against the best teams in the world and get a glimpse of what their future holds. Bangladesh have never played Australia and England in an ODI while their most recent ODI against India was in 2017.

"I think this is a huge experience we get from here and we want to execute the next game. This is opportunity we always wanted to have," Sultana said.

"We have not played a lot of international matches from 2018 to 2020, we just played T20 matches. We never get the opportunity to play a lot of international matches like ODIs, but now we are getting the opportunity to play in the ICC Women’s Championship.

"We'll get more international matches and we're going to get to play against the top teams, so we'll get a lot of experience, and we want to show the other teams that we are competitive and capable. It is going to be a big challenge and a big opportunity for all of us."