 "Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rinku Singh")
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh stitched counter-attacking 108-run stand to bring India back into the game while batting first. Photo: @BCCI
Bangladesh’s dismal India tour continued as Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side suffered an 86-run defeat against India at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday (October 19). Despite Shanto candidly admitting after their shambolic defeat in Gwalior that his team did not know how to chase 180 runs, their approach while chasing 222 runs in this match clearly demonstrated the need for a better strategy if they hope to compete against strong teams like India.
“We play on 140-150-run wickets at home. Our batters don’t know how to score 180 runs. I won’t solely blame the wickets, but we have to consider both skills and mentality,” Shanto said in the post-match press conference following their defeat in Gwalior.
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Chasing the large target, the Bangla Tigers made a sedate start, with openers Parvez Hossain Emon and Litton Das putting together 20 runs in 15 balls before Arshdeep Singh bowled Emon. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was dismissed by Washington Sundar, while Litton Das was clean-bowled by Varun Chakravarthy, leaving Bangladesh at 42-3 inside six overs. The visitors’ chase never gained momentum after that, and they continued losing wickets at regular intervals.
Put into bat, Sanju Samson blasted two boundaries, and Abhishek Sharma hit one in the first over against Mehidy Hasan Miraz. However, when the pacers bowled in tandem, the pitch revealed its dual nature, making it difficult for the batters to hit through the line. Samson became a victim of the dual-paced Kotla wicket, as he was caught at mid-off while attempting to hit Taskin Ahmed for a boundary in the second over.
Samson’s opening partner, Abhishek Sharma, hit three boundaries before being clean-bowled by Tanzim Hasan Sakib’s raw pace (147.2 kmph). India captain Suryakumar Yadav also struggled with the dual nature of the wicket, and his 10-ball innings of 8 runs was cut short when Mustafizur Rahman had him caught by Shanto at mid-off.
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Rinku also joined the assault, taking the Bangladeshi bowlers to task, forming a 108-run partnership off 49 balls for the fourth wicket with Reddy.
Nitish returned to the pavilion after scoring 74 runs off 34 balls, including seven sixes and four boundaries. Rinku reached his fifty in 29 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes.
By the 17th over, both Nitish and Rinku were back in the pavilion, having provided an ideal platform for Hardik Pandya and Riyan Parag.
The duo made full use of this foundation, hammering the Bangladeshi bowlers all over the park. Hardik continued his form from Gwalior, scoring 32 off 19 balls (two fours and two sixes).
Parag smashed two sixes before being dismissed by Tanzim Hasan Sakib.
First Published: Oct 09 2024 | 10:31 PM IST
