India vs Bangladesh, 2nd T20I: Rohit Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal star for hosts in series-levelling win
After a disappointing performance in New Delhi a couple of days ago, India were back to winning ways after crushing Bangladesh by 8 wickets to level the three-match series 1-1. It was a must-win match for the home team and the Men in Blue romped home at a canter. The star of the victory was skipper Rohit Sharma who battered the Bangladeshi bowlers all around the park during his whirlwind knock of 85.
Earlier in the day, the visitors posted 153 in their 20 overs which were definitely 15-20 runs short of a par total in Rajkot. Yuzvdendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers for India, bagging a couple of wickets which stemmed the visitors' run flow in the middle overs.
It was Rohit Sharma who won the toss and put the visitors in. Openers Liton Das and Mohammad Naim started off in an aggressive fashion as the visitors raced off to 41/0 in the first 5 overs. In a bid to break the partnership, Rohit introduced Yuzvendra Chahal in the attack. He obliged almost immediately when he induced Liton Das into a false shot but Rishabh Pant messed up a simple stumping. His hands were just ahead of the stumps when he collected the ball and as a result, it was called a no-ball.
Chahal was at his best and it was courtesy his spell that Bangladesh fell way short of a total which they have would have in mind at the halfway mark. They were coasting along but the duo of Washington Sundar and Yuzendra Chahal took three wickets between them for just 48 runs to put Bangladesh on the backfoot.
Mahmudullah looked in fluent touch during his knock of 20 but the Indian bowlers tightened the screws on them and they ended up scoring a below-par 153 on the board. The home side were in a mood of redemption and began exceptionally. Both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan began with a cluster of boundaries and there was no looking back for them.
Rohit Sharma was in the mood and kept plundering the bowlers all around Rajkot. It was a special display from the hitman as he ended up scoring 85 off 42 deliveries. The innings was laced with 6 fours and 6 sixes. There was a time when he had smashed three consecutive sixes of Mosaddek Hossain and 6 sixes were certainly on the cards.
The duo of Dhawan and Rohit shared a 118 runs partnership before Dhawan was castled by a good delivery from Aminul Islam. The youngster who impressed in the last match continued his good run and bagged a couple of wickets for 29 runs. Rohit Sharma fell for 85 in the 13th over but by then the match was sealed.
It was the duo of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul who completed the formalities for the home team. Iyer blazed away to 24 off just 13 deliveries studded with 3 fours and a six. Rahul, on the other hand, remained unbeaten on 8 off 11 deliveries. The decider will be played on Sunday in front of a jam-packed VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on IND vs BAN head to head, IND vs BAN schedule 2019, news, results, points table, most runs, most wickets and fantasy tips.