Asia Cup T20, India vs Bangladesh: Five talking points
Rohit Sharma’s knock of 83 off 55 balls led India to a competitive total of 166Bangladesh did their homework on the pitch extremely well, but perhaps forgot to do the same on their own game, as they fell in their own trap and lost the Asia Cup opener to India by 45 runs. Rohit Sharma was the wrecker-in-chief for the hosts, as he smashed 83 off 55 balls on a green top, that was by no means an easy wicket to bat on. He was helped by Hardik Pandya’s cameo of 31 off just 18 balls, as India reached a challenging total of 166/5 in their 20 overs.That challenging total proved out to be way above par for the Tigers, as they weren’t able to cope with some excellent bowling from Ashish Nehra and company, and could manage only 121/7 in their 20 overs.Here are the talking points from the game:
#1 India\'s woes against green tops continue
Hosting the second marquee tournament in the span of two months, Bangladesh had done their homework pretty well, at least as far as the pitch was concerned, as they took some lessons from India’s game against Sri Lanka in Pune and prepared a green top to kick off the Asia Cup.
At the outset, the Indians looked like putting themselves in the harm’s way, when the three of the top four couldn’t adjust to the change of conditions-- for the umpteenth time, it has to be said-- and threw away their wickets inside the first ten overs.
Indians, the flat-track bullies, as the reputation goes, looked like failing once again, when they couldn’t cope with the lateral movement and the extra bounce that the Mirpur pitch offered. Shikhar Dhawan could not cover the seam movement and was clean bowled by an incoming Al-Amin Hossain delivery.
That brought India’s best batsman to the crease, Virat Kohli, who looked rather unsettled, something rarely seen with Kohli, as he tried a couple of wild swings and also stepped down the track to up the ante in the initial overs, as he and Rohit Sharma were struggling initially with the moving ball.
That eventually led to his downfall, as he tried to drive a delivery that hit him very high on the bat, and resulted in an easy catch for Mahmudullah at mid-off. Suresh Raina, who statistically, has been India’s best batsman in all T20s, missed a turning delivery from Mahmudullah and was bowled again.
Had it not been for the wisdom that Rohit showed, India would have been in deeper trouble. This match again brought to the fore India’s weakness against the moving ball on a lively surface.