World Cup 2019: 3 talking points from the warm-up game between India vs Bangladesh

After having lost to New Zealand in the first warm-up game, India bounced back brilliantly in the second warm-up fixture against Bangladesh and registered a convincing 95-run victory at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on May 28.

Asked to bat first, India suffered the early loss of Shikhar Dhawan who scored just 1 run while Rohit Sharma struggled to score as well. Vijay Shankar, too, failed to impress with the bat as he was dismissed for 2 off 7 deliveries. However, captain Virat Kohli's 47, KL Rahul's stabilizing knock of 108 and MS Dhoni's blistering 78-ball 113 took India to 359 after 50 overs for the loss of 7 wickets.

Chasing the competitive total, the Bangladesh openers gave them a steady start. India found their first breakthrough via Jasprit Bumrah who dismissed Soumya Sarkar and broke the 49-run partnership. Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim stitched a 120-run partnership in order to efforts were in vain as the other batsmen failed to build on that partnership and collapsed for a score of 264.

#1 KL Rahul and MS Dhoni's centuries

MS Dhoni scores a ton. Picture: BCCI

After having lost Shikhar Dhawan very cheaply, opener Rohit Sarma and Virat Kohli tried to build a meaningful partnership but failed to do so. In their 45-run partnership, Rohit recorded a mere 19 off 42. His poorly constructed innings came to an end while he was dismissed via an inside edge off Rubel Hossain in the 14th over.

KL Rahul came in to bat at No. 4, the much-discussed position in India's batting line up. He supported his captain very well and added 33 runs before Kohli was bowled by a yorker off Mohammad Saifuddin. Vijay Shankar, another potential candidate for India's No. 4 spot, failed to make an impact and soon left India struggling at 102-4 after 22 overs.

The pressure fell upon Rahul and the experienced MS Dhoni, both of whom tried to resurrect the innings. Rahul being the set batsman took charge and began to accelerate the innings while Dhoni supported him very well. Rahul reached his fifty off 45 balls in the 26th over.

He took on Shakib Al Hasan for two boundaries and a six in the 31st over then Dhoni too joined the party. He took 40 balls to bring his fifty and reached it with a boundary, wide of deep mid-wicket off Mosaddek Hossain in the 37th over.

In the 42nd over, KL Rahul brought up his hundred and put seemingly sealed his berth for the number 4 batting position. His brilliant innings came to an end when he mistimed the ball and got an inside edge after scoring 108 off 99, including 12 fours and 4 sixes.

However, that didn't slow India's scoring rate down as the dangerous Dhoni was still at the crease. The former skipper was supported by Hardik Pandya and instantly began began taking the bowling attack to the cleaners. Though Pandya fell for 21, Dhoni's back-to-back sixes took him to a blistering century which he brought up in style - a maximum off Aby Jayed in the penultimate over. His swashbuckling 78-ball 113 included 8 fours and 7 sixes. Later, Jadeja's 11 off 4 lifted India to a competitive total of 359 with the loss of 7 wickets.

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