Questions were aplenty in the first ten overs of India’s innings against Bangladesh in the inaugural match of the 2016 Asia Cup in Mirpur on Wednesday. Before this game, India had won five out of their last six Twenty20s but the one loss came on a seaming, green pitch against a Sri Lankan side, brimming with pace.
This pitch in Mirpur was similar and Bangladesh’s pacers perhaps more accomplished. And things seemed to be following a similar script – Bangladesh’s pace attack made the ball talk and nipped out Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina before the Indian score had touched 50. India were limping along at only five an over and yet again uncomfortable questions were being raised about India’s batting quality on pitches which offered some bounce and movement.
Bangladesh cede the momentum
The answer though was provided by Rohit Sharma who played an innings which should rate as highly as any he has ever played. This was not one of his typical batting slugfests. Sharma struggled early in his knock and played and missed quite a few. He had taken 28 balls to score a paltry 21 runs when he got a stroke of luck – Bangladesh’s talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan dropped a straightforward catch off him at point.
The old adage about “catches winning matches” came uncomfortably true for Bangladesh. Till then, Mashrafe Mortaza’s men were in complete control. India had limped to 52/3 in 10.3 overs, a run rate of just over five. Their bowlers were dominating the game. Had that catch been taken, India’s lower order would have been exposed and Bangladesh would have fancied restricting India to a below-par total.
Sharma delivers the goods
After that, it looked a different match. Deliveries which were causing trouble for the batsmen started disappearing to the boundaries. Sharma, emboldened by the dropped catch, broke free and started unveiling his majestic array of shots. What stood out in Sharma’s case though was the maturity he showed in his innings. Recognising the fact that his wicket could have precipitated a similar batting collapse to the one in Pune against Sri Lanka earlier in the month, Sharma was restrained at the start of his innings, preferring to get a feel of the pitch and hanging on till matters improved.
When the time came, he was unstoppable. In the 27 balls that followed after he was dropped, Sharma smashed another 62 runs. In company with the enterprising Hardik Pandya at the other end who is only getting better with every game, India galloped to 166, something that hardly looked possible earlier in the match. It was a score far in excess for what was par on the surface and Bangladesh hardly even got going, losing by an emphatic 45 runs.
However, this trait of Sharma is heartening. For many years now, he has been recognised as an incredibly talented batsman but at times, someone who is prone to gifting his wicket away. Despite his run of incredible form, question marks were raised about his abilities on difficult surfaces. On Thursday, he answered those nagging doubts and demonstrated that even when in tricky situations, he could still deliver the goods for his team.
India (166/6 in 20 overs) beat Bangladesh (121/7 in 20 overs) by 45 runs.
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