India Crush Bangladesh in Record-Breaking T20I Showdown in Hyderabad
India defeated Bangladesh by 133 runs in Hyderabad to finish their Twenty20 International series with a resounding performance that broke all previous records.
On the last night of the tour, India gave Bangladesh one last hammering, but this one will live in history. The second-highest T20I score, three runs short of 300; a brilliant forty-ball century from Sanju Samson; the strength and inventiveness of Suryakumar Yadav; and finally, the finish from the formidable lower middle order.
Key Performances and Match Results
India 297 for 6 (Samson 111, Suryakumar 75, Pandya 47, Tanzim 3-66) beat Bangladesh 164 for 7 (Hridoy 63, Litton 42, Bishnoi 3-30, Mayank 2-32) by 133 runs.
Match Analysis
Bangladesh saw no respite as they amassed the most number of boundary runs in a T20 innings with 22 sixes (tied for highest for a Test-playing team) and 25 fours. A record 18 overs yielded 10 runs or more, one of which had five sixes, and three bowlers gave up 50 or more. A catch went bad, a run-out was missed, and two of the twenty-six dot balls turned out to be no-balls.
Bangladesh had no idea that the first ball bouncer that Tanzim Hasan used to get Abhishek Sharma out would be their last moment of happiness for the evening. In the second over, Samson had already disrupted Taskin Ahmed’s lines by reversing course and blasting four straight fours. Suryakumar, the new hitter, took just one ball to score his first six.
Samson refused to be abandoned. He withdrew and defeated Mustafizur Rahman with a four and a six as well. Then, to finish the powerplay, Suryakumar produced shots that are normally considered bold, but he pulled balls well behind square when most hitters would have been content to go just behind. After the final one, which was a pull over midwicket, India reached their joint-highest powerplay score of 82.
The most remarkable strokes came from Samson, but Suryakumar had a sliced six over backward point that he had no right sending there. While some of his eight sixes were bold, they lacked muscle. He had a strong control percentage of 81 at a strike rate of 236.17.
The most amazing of Samson’s sixes came when he nearly trodden on the stumps to shorten a slower ball from Mustafizur and then sent it over extra cover with his back foot.
Rishad Hossain, a legspinner, was recently shot after hitting 55 in the previous game. He was letting Samson hit him for sixes down the ground without using his feet in his second over, but he was erring in length and began the first over with a short ball. His lengths were very long, but the pitch also had a significant role. Rishad’s two overs ultimately yielded 46 runs.
For Samson, whose talent in international T20 cricket had not yet translated into numbers, the innings was a cherry on top. It was evident in his ostentatious celebrations upon becoming India’s second-fastest person to reach both the fifty and the hundred. In the 173-run second-wicket stand, Suryakumar had to settle for being the supporting act for once.
When you end a relationship this long, you usually expect some relief, but Riyan Parag and Hardik Pandya had different plans. It took Parag and Pandya three balls to reach their respective boundaries. Together, they struck four sixes to score 81 off just 31 balls. When Pandya made his off Tanzim even bigger, he was able to outdo Samson’s back-foot six over more cover. Once more, it was a nice, slower, short ball with no space, but it still flew over more cover.
India was kept from reaching 300 by two wickets in the last over, but that did little to ease Bangladesh’s concerns.
For Bangladesh, things might still get worse. And they did. Mayank Yadav started the chase with a brute of a bouncer for Parvez Hossain’s golden duck. Mahmudullah’s final T20 international appearance came at 8 off 9 with a 2-0-26-1 bowling average.
In his first game of the series, Ravi Bishnoi displayed the wealth of Indian spin with three wickets. Despite being Bangladesh’s largest loss in terms of runs, Towhid Hridoy’s half-century, with a strike rate of 150 with three fours and five sixes, did manage to stop the heaviest T20I loss for a Test-playing team.
Suryakumar Yadav on Building a Selfless Team in India’s T20I Success
Another thing that makes India’s T20I captain happy is that his squad has versatile spinners and batters.
Suryakumar Yadav, the captain of India’s Twenty20 international team, has learned the importance of developing a selfless squad after his team’s 3-0 victory over Bangladesh on a historic day in Hyderabad. For Suryakumar and coach Gautam Gambhir, this was their second consecutive series sweep since they assumed leadership of the squad in the shortest format.
Sanju Samson was the player on Saturday who most embodied India’s brave and altruistic style of play at bat. In the tenth over, wristspinner Rishad Hossain bowled him a sequence of 6,6,6,6,6 that took him from 62 off 29 balls to 92 off 35 balls. Then, with 96 runs on the board, he hit offspinner Mahedi Hasan over his head for the second-fastest 40-ball century by an Indian in Twenty20 Internationals. India scored 297 for 6, the second-highest total in men’s T20Is, with to Samson’s offensive.
The host broadcaster was told by Suryakumar, “I think we have achieved a lot as a team,” during the post-series presentation. Above all, as I stated at the beginning of the series, I want my team to be composed of unselfish cricket players. We want to be a selfless team, and like Hardik [Pandya] stated, we just want to hang out and enjoy each other’s company both on and off the field. Our friendship is evident on the field as we enjoy ourselves.
That has been the general conversation within the squad. “No one is bigger than the team,” Gauti bhai emphasized both at the beginning of the series and when we traveled to Sri Lanka. Sanju did the same thing. If you feel like you have to hit the ball out of the park for the team, whether you’re at 49, 99, or anything else, you have to hit it. Truly delighted for him.”
India changed their lineup, adding more all-rounders to their squad in anticipation of the forthcoming three-match Test series against New Zealand, which will see certain Test stars take a vacation.
Suryakumar used as many as seven bowling options in the second and third Twenty20 Internationals. The management of the Indian squad has also requested flexibility from their batters. One of this series’ debutants, Nitish Kumar Reddy, was moved up to No. 4 in the second game and, after India was reduced to 41 for 3 during the powerplay, he answered with 74 off 34 balls in just his second international innings.
“We’ve to be very flexible when it comes to batting and bowling as well,” Suryakumar explained. “Everyone who can must provide a few overs, and hitters must be extremely adaptable. It was really admirable how it was portrayed in the series.
“Just [have to] maintain the good habits and continue that on the field and just be the same.”
The Test team’s preparation for the Australia tour, which begins with the first game in Perth on November 22, will coincide with India’s next Twenty20 international assignment, a four-match series in South Africa from November 8 to November 15.
