Asia Cup 2018: Five unnoticed things from the India-Bangladesh match
India mauled the Bangladeshi Tigers to open the Super Four round of Asia Cup 2018 in style as they registered a comprehensive eight-wicket win at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.
Ravindra Jadeja, who made his return to the Indian ODI team after a year-long absence, stunned the opposition with a four-wicket haul. India won the toss and opted to field first. India’s pace bowling pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah struck early and Bangladesh was reeling at 15/2 after 5.1 overs.
Bangladesh's most experienced pair Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim started the repair job but were soon sent back to the pavilion by the returning left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
Bangladesh soon collapsed to 101/7 and it was their captain Mashrafe Mortaza and Mehidy Hasan’s partnership of 66 runs that carried the nation to a respectable score of 173. R Jadeja captured four wickets while Bumrah and B Kumar picked three wickets each.
Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan began confidently with an opening partnership of 61 runs and set a great platform to complete the chase. Rohit was always in complete control of the game and was present till the very end to take India over the finishing line. Here are five things which may have gone unnoticed from the match:
#1. India’s spin bowling variety
All-rounder Hardik Pandya suffered from an acute back injury in the last match against Pakistan and was sidelined from the tournament. Ravindra Jadeja was selected as his replacement in today’s match against Bangladesh and that added another dimension in India’s bowling armory.
The Indian bowling attack already had a right-arm leg-spinner in Yuzvendra Chahal, a left-arm leg-spinner in Kuldeep Yadav and a right-arm off-spinner in Kedar Jadhav. The inclusion of a left-arm spinner completed all the varieties possible in four spin bowlers.
While Chahal and Kuldeep have been an integral part of India’s limited overs setup, Ravindra Jadeja made his return to the Indian team after a gap of 442 days. The left-arm spinner starred with splendid bowling figures of 4/29 from his 10 overs.