India vs Bangladesh 2019: 5 talking points from the 1st T20I
Bangladesh ended their 8-match losing streak against India in T20Is by defeating the Men in Blue by 7 wickets in the 1st T20I at New Delhi.
Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah's decision to bowl first on a tricky wicket at the Arun Jaitley Stadium proved to be a masterstroke as India lost their opener Rohit Sharma in the first over. The nature of the wicket posed many challenges to the Indian batsmen who could finish with just 148 runs on the board.
Chasing 149 to win, Bangladesh lost Liton Das (7 runs off 4 balls) early, but the heroics of Soumya Sarkar (39 runs off 35 balls) and Mushfiqur Rahim (60 not out off 43 balls) took the Tigers across the finish line with 3 balls to spare.
Here are five of the biggest talking points from the 1st T20I:
#1 Bangladesh's successful bowling plan
After deciding to bowl first on a two-paced wicket, the Bangladesh bowlers executed their plans to perfection. The wily cutters delivered by the fast bowlers and the tight lines bowled by the spinners ensured the Indian batsmen could never cut loose.
India managed to score only 35 runs in the powerplay, thereby handing control to the visitors early on.
Mahmudullah rotated his bowlers according to the situation and Bangladesh were successful in taking wickets at regular intervals.
Aminul Islam (2/22) and Afif Hossain (1/11) bowled brilliantly to make things difficult for India and ultimately, an organized display from Bangladesh restricted the hosts to a chasable total of 148-6 in 20 overs.
#2 Shikhar Dhawan's bizarre run-out
After losing Rohit Sharma (9 runs off 5 balls) and KL Rahul (15 runs off 17 balls) early, India were in a spot of bother. However, Shikhar Dhawan (41 runs off 42 balls) held firm at one end and steadied the ship by building crucial partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (22 runs of 13 balls) and Rishabh Pant (27 runs off 26 balls).
Just when Dhawan looked like he was going to take the attack to Bangladesh, an absurd call by Rishabh Pant ended his stay at the crease.
Pant pushed the ball to the mid-wicket region and called for a second run. Dhawan responded and was halfway down the pitch when Pant changed his mind and tried to send his partner back. Mushfiqur Rahim collected the throw and whipped off the bails with Dhawan well short of his crease.
Dhawan's dismissal slowed the scoring rate and ensured India could not put up a competitive total.
#3 India's DRS blunders
In the 10th over of the Bangladesh innings, Mushfiqur Rahim was trapped in front of the wicket twice off Yuzvendra Chahal's bowling. The appeals were turned down by the umpire, and India did not go on to challenge the decision. As a result, Rahim received two lifelines and went on to play a match-winning innings.
India then wasted their only available review on a caught-behind appeal in the same over. However, the replay showed that there was no bat involved, leaving Rohit Sharma disappointed.
Ultimately, three poor decisions in the same over proved costly for Team India.
#4 Mushfiqur Rahim's late onslaught
Bangladesh needed 22 runs off the last two overs to win the match. An economical penultimate over by Khaleel Ahmed could have tipped the scales in India's favor.
However, things went downhill for Rohit Sharma's side as Mushfiqur Rahim launched an all-out attack on Khaleel, hitting hit him for four consecutive boundaries and scoring 18 runs from the over.
This left Bangladesh with just four runs to get off the final over.
#5 India's strange decision to bowl Shivam Dube in the last over
Usually, when a team is tasked with defending very few runs in the last over, their best bowler is given the responsibility to try and win them the match.
However, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma surprised everyone by handing the ball to debutant Shivam Dube, who had just 4 runs to play with. Although Deepak Chahar had an over left, Dube was handed the ball as Rohit felt he could surprise the Bangladeshi batsmen into errors.
However, the plan failed as Bangladesh comfortably scored the required runs off the first three deliveries to register a comprehensive seven-wicket victory.
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