South Africa were given a glimpse of what they have been missing as De Villiers flayed Bangladesh's attack with stunning ease on his way to a career-best one-day international score on Wednesday.
Bangladesh mounted a spirited chase in pursuit of a 382-run victory target but finished on 333-8 to succumb to their third defeat in six matches.
Even though West Indies stars such as Chris Gayle and Andre Russell were not part of that series, Jason Holder's team still must be smarting from those three consecutive losses last month.
Bangladesh made their foray into Test arena in 2000 against India but in 15 years, have never received invitation from BCCI, something that the current players are looking forward to, insists their limited overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza.
Leading the side in the absence of rested regular skipper Virat Kohli, opening batsman Rohit hit five fours and an equal number of sixes in his 61-ball knock to guide India to 176-3 in their 20 overs.
Taskin Ahmed became the fifth Bangladesh bowler to claim a one-day hat-trick before incessant rain washed out the second match of the series against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Tuesday.
India are the overwhelming favourites to win the tournament for a record seventh time while Bangladesh will be hoping to be third-time lucky in a summit clash.
Bangladesh made a perfect start to their World Cup campaign, posting their highest one-day international score of 330-6 during the 21-run win over South Africa.
Rashid Khan produced another magical spell of spin bowling as Afghanistan wrapped up a six wicket win over Bangladesh to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series on Tuesday.
Kanitkar's boundary against Pakistan under fading lights at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka in 1998 or Joginder Sharma's final over act against the arch-rivals in the inaugural World Cup at the Wanderers were one-off acts that made them household names.
Star batsman Suresh Raina will look to get some batting practice ahead of the upcoming South Africa series along with some of the other fringe players as India 'A' take on Bangladesh 'A' in a three-match One-Day series, starting in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza expressed displeasure at a few decisions going against his side in their 109 runs' thrashing by India in the cricket World Cup quarter-finals at the MCG on Thursday though he did not say it in so many words.
Colin Munro became the third New Zealand player to score a Twenty20 international century as his side secured a 47-run victory and wrapped up their three-match series against Bangladesh with a game to spare on Friday.
Pakistan will be eager to raise their game.
Eager to keep their semi-final hopes alive, a desperate Bangladesh will have their work cut out when they take on a spirited Afghanistan in a do-or-die World Cup encounter in Southampton on Monday. England's defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka on Friday breathed air into Bangladesh's hopes of securing a semi-final berth and the 'Tigers' will be keen on making the most of the situation starting with a win over the bottom-placed Afghanistan.
'To be honest, he did not miss much of the plan when he bowled. I don't know if there are many batsmen who can come and hit a six off the first ball, the next for a four and then again a six'
Kumar Sangakkara continued his awesome batting form in Bangladesh as Sri Lanka won the second One-Day International by 61 runs in Dhaka on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
There were close matches, acrobatic fielding, some sharp bowling and big runs scored in the round-robin phase. Here are some memorable moments from the World Cup so far
The road to the knockout stage for Sarfaraz Ahmed and his men is just an improbable mathematical calculation and that too provided Pakistan win the toss and bat first.
Sohag Gazi struck a maiden century as the Bangladesh lower order fought back on the fourth day of the first Test against New Zealand to leave the match in Chittagong heading for a draw.
Will it be Naryanswami Srinivasan or Mustafa Kamal?
Images from India's World Cup warm-up match against Bangladesh, in Cardiff, on Tuesday.
For Kohli, what matters is applying himself according to the demands of the situation.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza says his injury-struck side will have to improve considerably in all departments to challenge India in the Asia Cup final, in Dubai, on Friday.
A place in the final at stake, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh would expect their batsmen to fire as they lock horns in a virtual semi-final of the Nidahas Twenty20 tri-series, in Colombo, on Friday.
As far as the Indian team is concerned, even a 3-0 result against the hosts will not be enough for the second-placed side to claim the number one spot in the ICC rankings, while a favourable outcome for the home team will boost its qualifying chances for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
Karthik's gem of a cameo got him 29 off 8 balls with two boundaries and three sixes -- the last of them which will be forever be etched in the memory.
Images from the ICC World Cup quarter-finals played between India and Bangladesh at the MCG on Thursday.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights important numbers for the Bangladesh team from World Cups.
New Zealand and Bangladesh enter their final group match of the ICC Champions Trophy, in Cardiff, on Friday, with the knowledge that even a win may not be enough to see either of them into the semi-finals.
Afghanistan speedster Shapoor Zadran wants the stereotypical perception to change.
Resuming at the overnight score of 36 for 2 on Day 3, Bangladesh 'A' were shot out for 151 in 39.3 overs, with Ishwar Pandey (3-28), Jayant Yadav (3-48) and Abhimanyu Mithun (2-23) doing the bulk of damage at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat on a flat wicket, setting their hosts a below-par 279 to win. South Africa reached 282 without the loss of a wicket and with 43 balls to spare.
The veteran left-hander was unbeaten on 160 as Sri Lanka reached the close of play on 314 for five after captain Angelo Mathews had won the toss and opted to bat.
Even as Bangladesh expressed outrage over the Rohit Sharma 'no-ball' controversy during their World Cup quarterfinal defeat to India, the BCCI asked ICC President Mustafa Kamal who criticised "poor umpiring" in that match, to raise the issue before the world body.
Changes on cards as no end to India's middle-order woes
Australia will start favourites in Thursday's clash but a passionate Bangladesh are expected to make life tough for the holders.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
England captain Eoin Morgan was "gutted" after his team's premature exit from the World Cup on Monday and confessed he was clueless about what the future holds for the team.
Hamilton Masakadza defied Bangladesh's spinners with an unbeaten 154 to take Zimbabwe to a respectable position in the second Test in Kulna. The tourists had reached 331-5 in their first innings by stumps on the third day, trailing Bangladesh's total of 433 by 102.
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