New-Look India Dominates Bangladesh with 7 Wickets Victory to Lead Series 1-0
At Gwalior, India’s reconstructed team defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets to win the first Twenty20 International of the series.
Even with a few of rookies on the field, the Indian team proved their mettle with the bat and with the ball, easily reaching the modest target of 128.
Key Performances and Match Results
India 132 for 3 (Mehidy 35, Arshdeep 3-14, Varun 3-31) beat Bangladesh 127 (Hardik 39, Suryakumar 29, Samson 29, Mehidy 1-7) by 7 wickets.
Match Analysis
To begin the three-match Twenty20 International series, a youthful Indian team outplayed an experienced Bangladeshi team. India was too strong for Bangladesh, who wore the identical uniforms as the World Cup winning team, despite having two debutants in their starting XI and only three players from that team remaining.
Bangladesh never really seemed to have the batting for the somewhat uneven bounce of the Gwalior pitch and the accurate Indian attack, right from the moment they lost Litton Das to a slog in the opening over. Following Arshdeep Singh’s early wickets, Mayank Yadav began his international debut with a maiden over, but Varun Chakravarthy, who was back, dominated the middle overs. India, in command, reached home with 49 balls remaining after chasing a pitiful 128.
Arshdeep, the attack leader and quickly rising to the top of India’s wickets table, got off to a perfect start, displaying just the right amount of swing to keep Bangladesh’s young player, Parvez Hossain Emon, honest. Then Das opened the face for a four on the opening ball, which resulted in a fielder coming up on the leg side and a short third going back. He attempted to play the field second ball, but the angle of it failed him. Arshdeep had Parvez, who had hit Hardik Pandya for a six, playing on in his second over. Bangladesh 14 off 2.1 overs for 2.
With their fast tempo and enigmatic spin, Mayank and Varun were hardly the best combination to push the pace further. They were already behind the game. With Varun making his comeback to the India XI after three years and Mayank playing competitive cricket for the first time since his injury during the IPL, Bangladesh’s only hope was ring rust. They were both not rusty.
The other debutant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, dropped the ball in the floodlights of the Gwalior debut stadium, despite Varun having generated an opportunity with the second ball. Mayank became the third player to begin his India T20I career with a maiden as he bowled the final over of the powerplay. The other two are Arshdeep and Ajit Agarkar, the current chairman of selectors, who has expedited Mayank.
The pair soon shared a wicket between them. The man who had benefited from the prior drop, Towhid Hridoy, drew Varun straight to long-on, while Mahmudullah spooned Mayank to deep point. The runs were rarely coming in, so their only real choice was to play these low-percentage attempts.
Varun was still aggressive, taking out Rishad Hossain on the outside and Jaker Ali on the inside.
Despite being made to play the anchor, Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was unable to withstand the introduction of Washington Sundar’s offspin, which bowled him over and denied him room. Mehidy hasan Miraz extended the innings, but at the end, there was no effect on Arshdeep, Pandya, and Mayank’s accuracy.
As the wickets continued falling, none of the final seven overs produced a double figure score. With a precise yorker, Arshdeep splayed the center stumps and off stumps to end the innings. With 86 wickets, he is currently India’s sixth most prolific T20I wicket-taker, right behind leader Yuzvendra Chahal, who has 96.
A victory alone would not suffice for the hosts. They desired a significant victory. In the absence of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson had another opportunity to open the innings. He started brilliantly, driving two boundaries to each side of the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
In the second over, Abhishek Sharma took Taskin Ahmed for two fours and a six, showing greater power than touch. He seemed to be experiencing an adrenaline high as he exhausted himself in search of a nonexistent single.
However, India persisted in rendering Bangladesh defenseless. As Suryakumar Yadav produced fake strokes behind the wicket, Samson continued to drive the ball down the ground. India’s best powerplay against Bangladesh in Twenty20 Internationals ended in a score of 71, only their fourth-highest powerplay loss overall.
Samson would be frustrated that he was caught off guard by a hoick on the first ball of offspin, but his dismissal in the last over of the powerplay did not stop India from moving on. They both earned fast 29s.
Pandya, 39 off 16, carried on dominating Bangladesh, finishing first with a no-look ramp over the keeper’s head to cap off the chase.
