It was a below-average performance from Bangladesh in both the batting and bowling departments of the game during the first of the three-match T20I series in Gwalior, where their batters failed to play at the right tempo of the shortest format besides playing to adapt to the condition and the pitches quickly.
Litton Das cracked a boundary on his very first delivery of the game against Arshdeep Singh, before failing to extend and got out on the very next delivery. Since then, Bangladesh kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and soon found themselves struggling at 39/2 in the powerplay.
Towhid Hridoy had a tough time in the middle along with their experienced all-rounder Mahmudullah. The captain of the side, Najmul Hossain Shanto, managed to get a slow 27-run knock in 25 deliveries with the help of one boundary and six but couldn’t get going later in the game.
At the end of the 12th over, the Bangladesh captain returned to the hut, as the visiting side found themselves crumbling at 75/6. Only Mehidy Hasan Miraz held one end and stayed till the end for his unbeaten knock of 35 runs in 32 deliveries, shouldering on three boundaries.
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Shanto blamed the top-order batters for this downfall in the batting order, as neither kept wickets in hand nor scored rapidly in the first six overs of the innings.
“Powerplay is a worry. The approach we talked about (before the game), will be successful if we make a good start with the bat. We have to keep the wickets in the first six overs, and score runs in those.” Bangladesh’s captain expressed at the end of the game. “Otherwise those coming in next, it becomes too challenging for them. We have struggled in the powerplay. Those batting in the power play must take more responsibility.”
In the modern generation of the shortest format of the game, when a team keeps on losing wickets, they generally tend to go for the big shots more regularly to offer their team some rune towards the backend of the innings, but the tourists were unable to do any of these.
Najmul Hossain Shanto questions the poor mentality of Bangladesh batters
Bangladesh didn’t make a decent start with the ball in hand. The bowlers were smacked for 25 runs without any prize in the first two overs of the game before the Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav kept on nailing the big shots around the park.
None of their bowlers seem to have a plan as Taskin Ahmed, their premier pacer was smashed for 44 runs without any success in 2.5 overs, while Shoriful Islam too couldn’t get going at the start with the new ball in hand. They leaked 132/3 in less than 12 overs, as a unit.
Captain Shanto, however, has shown trust in this Bangladesh side to do well in the future and turn it around with better performances, both with the bat and ball in hand,
“I wouldn’t say we played badly. We are a better team than this. We haven’t done well in this format for a long time, but I don’t believe we are such a bad team.” The left-handed batter was highlighted at the end of the game.
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“I don’t want to talk about any individual player. I think the batting unit didn’t do well today. There will be aggression in the way we approach our scoring, but sometimes we have to select the balls correctly. We will think about it, but we can’t rush in changing our approach.” The Bangladesh captain concluded.
Both teams will move to the second T20I game in Delhi with a seven-wicket defeat.