A dominant India cruised into the final with three convincing victories in a row, but Bangladesh will also be high on confidence following their thrilling victory against Sri Lanka in their last league match.
India restored some pride with a consolation 77-run win over Bangladesh in third and final ODI to prevent the spirited hosts from securing a 3-0 series whitewash.
Mushfiqur Rahim stroked a brilliant 99, while Mustafizur Rahman picked up four wickets as Bangladesh outclassed Pakistan by 37 runs to qualify for the final, in the Asia Cup in Dubai, on Wednesday.
Check out the statistical highlights of the second ODI between India and Bangladesh in Mirpur on Sunday.
International Cricket Council will surely be involved in a simmering row as their president Mustafa Kamal has resigned.
Rohit Sharma took his time joining the World Cup party but arrived in style on Thursday, rocking the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a match-winning century to sink Bangladesh and send reigning champions India charging into the semi-finals.
Having suffered an unexpected defeat against Sri Lanka in their tournament-opener, it is highly unlikely that India will experiment against a resurgent Bangladesh in their final league stage match.
India's inexperienced cricket team will have to recover quickly from the eye-opening loss to Sri Lanka and lift its game by a few notches against an unpredictable Bangladesh in the Nidahas Twenty20 Trophy, in Colombo, on Thursday.
Rajneesh Gupta profiles the cricketers playing the World Cup 2019.
Virat Kohli scored a confident 136 and shared a 213-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane (73) as India cruised to an easy six-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their Asia Cup opener, in Fatullah, on Wednesday night.
After being comprehensively thrashed by 79 runs in the opening ODI of the three-match series, India, for the first time, are staring at the ignominy of series defeat against the proverbial minnows of world cricket.
Mustafa Kamal, who resigned on Wednesday as the International Cricket Council president, launched an extraordinary attack on the world cricket body's Chairman N Srinivasan after returning to the country.
Sri Lanka won the just-concluded Asia Cup, but none of their players figure in Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji's most valuable player index. Check it out.
Defending champions India cantered into the semi-finals of the cricket World Cup after a thumping -- victory over Bangladesh at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Only 5 batsmen have hit a six to take their team to victory when they needed 4 or more off the final ball.
The International Cricket Council released the provisional squads of the 12 teams for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Friday. However, co-hosts Australia and minnows Ireland decided against releasing the provisional list although they submitted 30 names to the parent body within the stipulated deadline.
'...then Bangladesh would have been the world champions a long time ago!'
Bangladesh thrashed South Africa by seven wickets in the second one-day international on Sunday to tie the three-match series at 1-1 after an inspired bowling performance saw the Proteas bundled out for 162, their lowest total against the hosts.
Gurkeerat Singh's all-round brilliance enabled India 'A' thrash Bangladesh 'A' by 96 runs in the first One-dayer of the three-match series, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday. The talented Punjab youngster first contributed a quickfire 58-ball 65 to ensure a commanding total of 322 for 7 for the hosts and then bowled his off-breaks effectively to return figures of 5 for 29 in 7.3 overs as the visitors were dismissed for 226 in 42.3 overs.
India captain Virat Kohli reclaimed the top batting spot, while Australia's pace ace Josh Hazlewood has achieved the number-one position in the bowlers' rankings for the first time in his career in the latest MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings.
Ian Pont, a former Essex player and fast bowling coach, now at the Ultimate Pace Foundation in Bengaluru, analyses England's disastrous World Cup campaign in an exclusive conversation with Manu Shankar/Rediff.com.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the fascinating career numbers of players in the World Cup.
'Probably because he was aware that this was his 100th ODI. Or probably because, in the first of its knock-out games, his team had produced the sort of all-round display that induces smiles.'
Prem Panicker, a keen follower of the game and one of cricket's finest writers, interacted with readers on the Rediff World Cup Chat.
Although A B de Villiers is still the front-runner for the MVP crown of the 2015 World Cup, a new and serious challenger has suddenly appeared out of the blue -- New Zealand opener Martin Guptill.