Fabulous batting by seasoned campaigner Mushfiqur Rahim powered Bangladesh to their first victory over India in the shortest format with an emphatic seven-wicket verdict in the firstT20 I match at Arun Jaitely Stadium in smog-swept Delhi on Sunday night and go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
Chasing down 149 runs, the target set by India after Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad won the toss and correctly chose to bowl, the visiting team overhauled the goal with three balls to spare to record their first-ever win against India in India in nine meetings. What made Bangladesh’s truly historic was that it came in an Indian venue.
Mushfiqur’s heroics aside, Bangladesh produced a clinical all-round performance, batting and bowling better and executed their well-crafted strategy in a superb manner—first by restricting the Indian batsmen to a below-par 148 for six and secondly by crucial contributions from four of their top five batsmen.
Among the Bangladesh bowlers, spinners led by off and leg spin duo of Afif Hossain and Aminul Islam Biplob did a fine job by varying the length of the deliveries, scarcely allowing Indian batsmen the room to go for strokes. Hossain and Biplob succeeded in getting the ball turn on a slow wicket and Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan found the going very tough against them. Paceman Shafiul Islam rocked the Indian batting right in the first over of the match by getting rid of Captain Rohit Sharma who had been a fantastic run for just nine runs. Shafiul’s opening attack partner Al-Amin Hossain also kept a tight leash on Indian batsmen, giving away only 27 runs in his four overs. Shafiul Islam (2/36) and Aminul Isam Biplob (2/22) shared between them four of India’s six wickets that fell. The strategy of Bangladesh bowlers working the ball around rather than playing aggressive worked wonders for the visitors. At a post-match press conference, Mushfiqur said he and Soumya had a chat at the crease “and we thought maybe we could drag the match deep. Luckily, we had a big over (by Khaleel Ahmed). Soumya played his role really role. Mohd Naim too and so did our bowlers.”
Mushfiqur said he was doing his best to improve as a player and hopefully do well in each and every game. That should be a warning to India as the two sides ready for the second T20 at Rajkot and the third in Nagpur on November 7 and 10 respectively. Soumya Sarkar said “all members of our team were cool and calm and we all were thinking positive.” Watched by an estimated 25,000 spectators who turned up at the stadium braving the worst air pollution-induced smog in three years, Mushfiqur clobbered an unbeaten 60 off just 43 balls displaying his brilliant power-hitting ability including four consecutive boundaries in the penultimate over at a time when the match had appeared an open issue.
With this innings, Mushfiqur, who was adjudged the man-of-the-match and featured in two-match deciding partnerships—a 60-run stand with Soumya Sarkar and an unbeaten 40-run collaboration with skipper Mahmudullah Riyad—once again underlined his status as one of the finest middle order batsmen.An epitome of class and composure, Mushfiqur’s knock threw in sharp contrast the brittle middle order batting of India on Sunday. Bangladesh earned the much-needed victory to lift the morale of the country’s cricketers and millions of cricket-crazy fans who were shell-shocked by the suspension of the world’s top all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan by the ICC for not reporting on time approaches made to him by an Indian bookie. No wonder, Soumya dedicated his side’s win to Shakib and Tamim Iqbal who pulled out of the India series to be with his wife expecting their second child. Mushfiqur was on fire when Bangladesh needed 22 off the last 12 balls to win. He was savage on Indian bowler Khaleel Ahmed reeling off four boundaries off as many balls in the penultimate over to take the match away from India. Mushfiqur got those boundaries off a short cutter, a fuller length ball, a low full toss and a delivery outside the off stump.
In all fairness, it must be mentioned that Mushfiqur was dropped by Krunal Pandya off spinner Yuzvendra Chahal when the batsman was on 38 and Pandya must be ruing how costly his lapse turned out to be. Rahim also had another lucky reprieve when a ball from Chahal hit him on the pad. Had India taken DRS review in the 10th over, it could have gone the hosts way as replays showed that the batsman was out. India began their innings in a disastrous way losing Rohit Sharma in the very first over after he had struck a pair of boundaries off Shafiul. But Rohit’s nine runs in five balls was enough to make him the all-time leading T20Irun-scorer, overtaking regular Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
A sedate period followed after Rohit’s exit as India sought to build a foundation. By the time the second Indian wicket fell, the hosts had plodded their way to 36 runs in six and half overs. More steady batting, led by Shikhar Dhawan who top-scored with 41, left India at 102/5 when deubtant Shivam Dube (1) was brilliantly caught by Afif Hossain off his own bowling, with only four overs left.
The Bangladesh innings initially followed a similar pattern with Liton Das departing with 7 runs off four balls in the first over for 8 with Deepak Chahar the Indian bowler. As in the first innings, a period of consolidation followed, but knowing their target, Soumya Sarkar and Bangladesh's debutant Mohammad Naim, kept in touch with the required run rate.
Naim (26) and Soumya added 46 runs for the second wicket to keep India at bay. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal tested the Bangladesh batsmen with his variations but Naim and Sarkar played smartly, keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Considered a future star of Bangladesh, Naim, however, wilted under pressure. He slogged a ball from Yuzvendra Chahal to Shikhar Dhawan at long-on, leaving his side on 54/2 in the eighth over. Soumya and Mushfiqur Rahim then fought on to keep up with the asking rate and when the former was dismissed by a Khaleel Ahmed(1/37) with slower ball, Bangladesh needed 35 runs from the last three overs. Soumya scored 35 runs with two sixes and one boundary off 39 balls, including a massive six of Krunal Pandya.
The 18th over in Bangladesh innings saw Mushfiqur dropped in the deep, the ball bursting through Pandya's hands for four before new batsman Mahmudullah crunched a boundary of his own over extra cover.
The following over confirmed the importance of the life given to Mushfiqur as Khaleel Ahmed was sent to the rope four times in four balls by the Bangladesh batsman. That left just four runs to get in the final over and Shivam Dube was unable to produce the required miracle in his first and only over of the match as Mahmudullah hammered him over the rope at deep mid-wicket to confirm a richly-deserved victory for the visitors with three
balls to spare.
None of the Indian batsmen could play a substantial knock after being put in to bat. Dhawan scored at a slow pace, managing just 41 off 42 balls. Dhawan, who has been struggling to find his touch since his comeback, was top-the scorer for India but he consumed seven overs before running himself out. Being the senior most player in the middle after Rohit's dismissal, he needed to stay long at the wicket but took too many balls to score his runs.
None of India's young brigade save Shreyas Iyer could take the Bangladesh bowling by the scruff of its neck. Iyer played an entertaining 13-ball 22 run knock, giving the innings a much-needed push but Shivam Dube's much-awaited international debut was disastrous as he ended with just one run.
Had it not been for some gritty stroke-making by Washington Sundar (14 off 5 balls) and Pandya (15 off 8 balls), India would not have got close to the 150-run mark.
During a post-match press conference, Rohit Sharma gave full credit to the Bangladesh team which put India under pressure right from the first over of the match.