T20 World Cup (Men’s), 2024
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Bangladesh loses to India
Dwaipayan Datta, June 23, 2024: The Times of India
From: Dwaipayan Datta, June 23, 2024: The Times of India
Once the niceties of the two most beautiful national anthems by the same poet were done on the faraway shores of Antigua, it was on India to take charge of their Super8s group and all but seal a semis spot.
From openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to cavaliers Rishabh Pant and Shivam Dube, everybody contributed. Jasprit Bumrah (2/13), too, was his usual miserly self as Bangladesh huffed and puffed to a 50-run loss.
But as India all but shut out Bangladesh’s hopes in this T20 World Cup, it was Hardik Pandya who put all his troubles to the side to stand up and deliver. Hardik has been slowly gathering momentum through the World Cup after a horrendous IPL, and on Saturday morning at the hot and sticky Vivian Richard Stadium, the allrounder came to the party.
His 27-ball 50 was the cornerstone of India’s 196-5, a score big enough to notch up the easy win against a team that doesn’t have the firepower in its batting. Coming into bowl within the Powerplay, Hardik used the slower ball to remove the dangerous opener Liton Das caught at deep square leg, that halted Bangladesh’s improbable chase.
Earlier, Hardik had come in to bat with the score on 108-4 in the 12th over, the entire top-order back in the hut. One more wicket at that stage could have made things slightly tricky for India, but Hardik ensured that nothing on those lines would happen.
Clearing his front leg, Hardik played the shots that made himself such a menace over the years as Shivam Dube (34 off 24 balls) came up with a useful contribution towards the end. The 53- run stand that he had with Dube was the right injection at the right time, the colossal sixes off the left-hander’s bat telling the world how deep India can bat. And even after Dube got out, Hardik connected a few strong hits as India notched up the highest score in a T20 game on this ground.
One could see that the Bangladesh batters lacked the belief to make a match of it. Still Tanzid Hasan and Nazmul Hosain Shanto did make an effort, till left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) came into his own.
India have decided to play him in the West Indies because of the variety that he brings to the table and the help that he gets from these tracks. Kuldeep’s first wicket on Saturday was that of left-hander Tazid Hasan Tamim, who failed to read Kuldeep’s googly to fall leg-before.
Towhid Hridoy, too, missed a sweep off another one that turned in to get trapped right in front. Shakib Al Hasan fell soon enough and Kuldeep’s sumptuous spell of spin bowling was definitely the second highlight of the day.
The Bangladesh batters failed to create any momentum off Kuldeep and the game was over before it was actually over. Much before that, it was the two superstars of Indian cricket — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — who gave glimpses that big scores could be just around the corner.
While Rohit (23 off 11 balls) looked to give himself just that little bit of room and play over the top, Virat (37 off 28 balls) seemed in beautiful touch during the course of his cameo. On a big ground, 39 off 3.4 is a good start and by the time Rohit got out, after being put in rather surprisingly by the Bangladesh captain, the platform had been set. The fans would have liked Virat to score a little more than what he got, but the super batter isn’t exactly bothered about the number of runs that he is getting. It’s all in a team’s cause and even though it was a moment to remember for medium-pacer Tanzim Shakib when he got Virat bowled, the Indian engine had already started chugging.
