Pakistan have beaten South Africa and England, Sri Lanka have outplayed India, Bangladesh have stunned New Zealand – this ICC Champions Trophy 2017, expected to be all about the usual suspects reaching the knockout phase of the competition, has been one insane, unpredictable roller-coaster ride, with plenty of takers remaining to plot a few more twists and turns.
After Pakistan just swept England away in the first semifinal, the India players, watching as the game swung emphatically Pakistan's way, would have wondered if this was going to be their fate in their own semifinal on Thursday.
India will go into the final four match against Bangladesh as the overwhelming favourites, just as England were when they played Pakistan.
And having watched how this Champions Trophy has unfolded, India will be wary. Add the recent matches against Bangladesh, including the ones in ICC tournaments, and they have a bigger case to be worried.
The last time India faced Bangladesh in a major ICC 50-over tournament, it was also a knockout – the quarterfinal of the 2015 World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.
India came up trumps in that match, but not without controversy, with Bangladesh, from their officials and fans to even the prime minister, crying foul over a no-ball decision that went against them.
It was almost as if, had that decision not gone in India's favour Bangladesh would have been the ones to lose to Australia in the semifinals. That might have been true, but there was so much of the match still left to go when that full toss no-ball was called, that, most likely, India would have gone on to win anyway.
Bangladesh would avenge that defeat by beating India 2-1 in a home series later that year, with Mustafizur Rahman putting himself in the spotlight with a man of the series performance.
The last ICC tournament game played between the two sides was that unforgettable World T20 2016 group match, when India won sensationally, with Bangladesh unable to get a single run from the last three balls. That would be followed by some unnecessary, unsavoury incidents when India eventually went down to the West Indies in the semifinals.
Bangladesh have a penchant to play the "poor me, victim" card, whenever a result, a major one, in particular, goes against them.
That game!
They don't seem to take losses too well. Of course, if you go by the adage "show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser," that might not be such a bad thing, but that "wearing your heart on your sleeves thing, but over-reacting to every single thing," does get a little wearisome at times. Not that the India fans are exactly angels in that regard.
India, the professional side that they are, will not worry about all the noises around them. Yes, they will be aware of what is going on, and the pressure there is on them to come out on the winning side, but what they will want to do is just go through their processes and let their skills do the talking on the field.
Virat Kohli spoke with a lot of admiration when asked about Bangladesh, the team they beat without any worries at all in a warm-up game, so it does look like there won't be any complacency there for this semifinal.
India cannot afford any, because this Bangladesh side, all the over-the-top reactions aside, are a world-class team, filled with world-class players. Bring your standards down even for a few overs, and the Tigers will pounce.
Having played two extremely close games against Bangladesh in recent ICC tournaments – India also suffered an infamous defeat to the side in the 2007 World Cup, which led to their early elimination – India will know the importance of getting their groove on from ball one all the way to ball 600.
