‘No total big for on song Rohit’
Indian batsmen, led by their skipper, took the second T20 away from Bangladesh with an aggressive approach
RAJKOT: On a wicket where both India and Bangladesh felt 180 was par score, Rohit Sharma bludgeoned a 43-ball 85 with six sixes to lift India to a series-levelling victory at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium on Thursday. Bangladesh, who had adopted a conservative approach in their first T20I win over India in New Delhi, failed miserably as India flexed their batting muscle. Several Indian batsmen had got starts in the first T20I. But in Rajkot, Sharma went on to put India in an unbeatable position.
India hit a total of seven sixes compared to Bangladesh’s one on a perfect batting wicket, chasing down Bangladesh’s target of 154 with 26 balls to spare. The visitors, asked to bat, were off to a promising start but the lack of sixes pegged them back. Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah admitted even a score of 180 may not have been enough given how Sharma—who hit six fours as well—was batting.
“If Rohit (Sharma) is having a good time, I think probably it is really hard to stop him,” Mahmudullah said after the match. “When he is batting brilliantly and if is in a good mood, probably may be you never know. But if we could have got at least 175 plus, we could have given ourselves a bit of chance to defend. If you get a good start early on, especially batsmen like Rohit and Shikhar (Dhawan), it is hard to stop them on that wicket,” Mahmudullah said.
Bangladesh also played plenty of dot balls as India staged a comeback led by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/28) to keep them under 160. “I think if you have more than 40 dot balls in a T20, you have less chance of winning. We played 38 dot balls there. Maybe that is okay, but there will definitely be opportunities to improve. Our batsmen had more responsibility today; the goal was to get a good score. But we could not do that. It is the failure of our batsmen,” Mahmudullah said.
India spinner Washington Sundar said not many bowling attacks can come up with workable plans once Indian batsmen are on song. “If you look at this batting lineup, all the batsmen would want to go aggressive right from the first ball. There is so much talent in the batting lineup. At times in games like Delhi, it happens; the wicket was playing (up) and it was not easy to start middling the ball right away. It was difficult there but on wickets like this you can expect the Indian team to go from the first ball. If we play like this I do not think any bowling can come up with a great plan,” he
› If Rohit (Sharma) is having a good time, I think probably it is really hard to stop him. If you get a good start early on, it is hard to stop them on that wicket.
MAHMUDULLAH, Bangladesh T20 captain
said.
Sundar said there was very little Bangladesh could have done to stop Sharma. “If he plays like this, then it is a treat for anyone in the stadium. Certain boundaries he hit were unbelievable. I also think from a bowler’s point of view, there were a few balls which Bangladesh had bowled really well but Rohit, as usual, was on song,” he said.
Sundar said India would have aimed for a big score had they batted first. “We thought 180 was par. We would have liked to get that score if we had batted first. But to have restricted them for 153, I think as a bowling unit we did a very good job,” he said.
Asked about the series decider in Nagpur on Sunday, Sundat said, “Definitely (India can win the series). We have just lost one game and that was a close game. If a couple of things went our way in that game we would have won. But in this game we won convincingly, and we can expect a similar track and boundaries in Nagpur.”
The two teams left together from Rajkot on Friday afternoon for Nagpur. Bangladesh’s poor record in T20I deciders will return to haunt the visitors to some extent. When asked how his side can banish their ghosts, Mahmudullah flashed a wide grin before saying, “It will be a new day, a new match... I think there is no point in thinking about what has happened in the past. That has already happened. But as a group, we should think about what we can do differently. Because T20 cricket will have such crunch moments.”