ICC T20 World Cup 2016: India vs Bangladesh - 5 Talking Points
When both teams arrived at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, there were contrasting feelings in their camps. While India were having an eye on securing a spot in the semi-finals, Bangladesh faced a must-win situation to stay alive in the tournament.
After a much-needed victory against arch-rivals Pakistan in Kolkata, MS Dhoni’s team brought their campaign back on track. However, the Indians also wanted to improve their net run-rate just in case the situation came down to it.
On the other hand, Mashrafe Mortaza’s side had to bounce back from consecutive losses to Pakistan and Australia. To make matters worse, they also had to contend with the absence of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny who were sidelined due to suspect actions.
Bangladesh won the toss on a surface which offered quite a lot for the spinners and opted to chase. They were impressive in the field while the Indian batsmen somehow stuttered their way to 146. Despite a brilliant start from the opposition, India maintained their intensity till the last moment to clinch a thriller and keep their hopes alive.
Let us take a look at the biggest takeaways from the humdinger in chronological order.
#1 – Indian openers throw it away again
A lot has been said about the form and approach of both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. The opening duo failed to judge the slowness of the Nagpur pitch and also could not do much against Pakistan too.
Consequently, the pressure on the middle-order increased manifold. The same story repeated again as the openers got off to a good start on another sluggish surface only to let go off the momentum with poor decision making.
Rohit smashed Mustafizur Rahman for a huge six and looked like he was settling down for a long innings. But, he tried one shot too many as he got down on one knee to carve the canny seamer through mid-wicket.
In the end, the 28-year old could only offer a skier which was accepted gleefully by Sabbir Rahman. Soon, Dhawan followed suit by attempting an ungainly sweep shot off Shakib Al Hasan and was trapped in front to leave the team in a precarious position.