Their reputation in tatters, India would seek to bury the ghosts of a nightmarish World Cup and redeem their pride when they take on Bangladesh in the series opening cricket one-day international in Dhaka on Thursday.

On their first assignment since Greg Chappell stepped down as coach, India have a manifold task against a team that triggered their debacle in the Caribbean and has come up leaps and bounds in recent months.

Not only do they have to come out of the lows of the failed World Cup campaign, they also have to prove a point to the hosts as well as the hardliners in the BCCI, who are out to clip their wings.

Bangladesh, riding high on confidence after their unexpected success in the mega event, would be no pushovers, though. If anything, they would be only too keen to prove their upset wins over the visitors and South Africa in the Super Eight were no flash in the pan.

Skipper Rahul Dravid warned his teammates against taking the hosts lightly.

"Bangladesh have improved a lot. There are no doubts about that. They are playing very good cricket. We expect a stiffer challenge than what we got on our last visit here. And we are aware of it," Dravid said.

Former captain Ravi Shastri, appointed as cricket manager as a stop-gap arrangement, has the unenviable task of rebuilding the team bonding that has been fractured by Chappell's man-management.

The three-match ODI series would also be a test of the authorities' decision to drop stars like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

While it provides a chance for the fringe players, critics would be waiting to rip the BCCI and the selectors apart for leaving out the duo if things go wrong.

The match at the Sher-Bangla National stadium would be a test of character for the Indians as it is being played in searing heat and oppressive humidity.

India's campaign received a setback on Tuesday as promising bat Manoj Tiwary was ruled out of the first two ODIs at least after injuring his right shoulder during fielding practice.

Sports buffs would also be having an eye on the composition of the opening pair, with Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in the squad.

Sehwag has already been served a stern message by the selectors who dropped him for the Test series, and any further floundering could prove highly damaging to his career.

Dravid has not had that much of a success against Bangladesh managing only 133 runs in eight matches, at a below-par average of 26.60, and the absence of some of the stars puts the onus more on him to lead the side by example.

Bangladesh have their tails up after silencing their critics with a Super Eight slot in the World Cup. They finished with the wooden spoon but not before upsetting formidable South Africa.

Flamboyant willower Mohammad Ashraful and all-rounder Saqibul Hasan  the two top run getters for the side in the mega event  would be eager to keep the momentum going against Dravid's boys and prove to the cricketing world that their show in the Caribbean was no flash-in-the-pan.

Ashraful, appointed vice-captain, had announced his entry into international cricket with a bang by becoming the youngest Test centurion on debut  in 2001. However, inconsistency has been Ashraful's nemesis and an average of 21.97 in the ODIs hardly does justice to his potential.

But with skipper Habibul Bashar slated to hang up his gloves after the home series against India, the dream of landing the big job could be the propelling force for the 22-year-old player.

The Indian batsmen, despite their good old reputation of being great players of spin, need to be wary of the left arm spin triumvirate in the Bangladesh line-up  Saqibul, Abdur Razzak and Mohammed Rafique  who captured 28 wickes between them in the Caribbean.

Statistically speaking, India have an overwhelming edge over their rivals in the win-loss record, but all of that seem to be from a bygone era after Banlgadesh's superb show in the World Cup.

The teams (from):

India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Kaarthick, Dinesh Mongia, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh.

Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Mohammad Ashraful (vice-captain), Javed Omar, Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Musfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Russel, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Rafique and Farhad Reza.

Umpires: Ashoka de Silva (Sri) and Nadir Shah (Bang).

Third umpire: A F M Akhtaruddin (Bang).

ICC Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri)