After winning the second T20I match on Wednesday against Bangladesh with a margin of 86 runs, India took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. This time around it was DB East Bengal club’s turn to take the stage as the T20 world champions showcased their dominance in all the departments of the game. If they were batting first themselves, they would have been swaying after losing three batters cheaply with D Nitish Reddy and Rinku Singh hitting quickfire fifties to help them post a massive score. It was then the turn of the bowlers as well as Bangladesh were never given a chance to breathe. The Indian fielders did well to enhance the efforts of their bowlers while taking some spectacular catches on the field.
The Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav utilized the bowling resources of Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav, Nitish Reddy, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and as many as seven other bowlers.
Interestingly, senior allrounder Hardik Pandya who scored 32 runs off 19 balls, earlier in the innings, made a stunning running catch near the boundary but did not bowl at all. Given that he proved there were no fitness issues with his endeavors in the field, it did pose a question as to why the decision was made not to use his medium pace bowling.
However, Suryakumar later clarified during the presentation after the match that it was in fact to allow the other bowlers a chance, also suggesting that the all-rounders will not be bowling in every match.
“Different bowlers can do different things in different conditions and I wanted to see if they can execute the tough overs for me,” Suryakumar told broadcaster of the match Murali Kartik. “Hardik may not bowl this time or Washington may not bowl the next time, I wanted to see what the other guys had in store, very happy with it.”
Nitish also contributed with the ball by claiming two wickets and was named player-of-the-match in only the second international match he had played
In the first 20 overs, India made 221/9 and in reply, Bangladesh managed to score only 135/9, thus losing the series for the second time in a row. The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led unit now has only one chance remaining to secure their first victory during the ongoing tour of India.
Saturday will see the third and final T20I played in Hyderabad.
