Bangladesh team is touring India without their experienced players but it hasn’t let down their performance. Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan is in all praise with Bangladesh cricketer Mahmudullah who is the leading the team in T20I series.
India was defeated by Bangladesh in the first T20I of this series in Delhi. Bangladesh showcased wonderful performance in all the department. The visitors won the toss and opted to bowl. India was given the challenging task to set the target in which the team was not good. Bangladesh player built up the pressure on the Indian batsmen and picked up the wickets at regular intervals.
Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah made some good decisions which helped them to halt the Indian batsmen. In the first T20I, India set the target of 148 runs which was easily chased down by the visitors. However, the visitors were not able to repeat the victory in the second T20I in Rajkot.
Mahmudullah has the quality of captain: Irfan Pathan
The Delhi win was the first T20I that Bangladesh won against India and this record was built under the leadership of Mahmudullah. He took impressive decisions as a captain. Irfan Pathan praised him for his leadership quality. He opined that his captaincy strategy is similar to former Indian captain MS Dhoni.
“When you win a match against one of the best teams in the world, it helps in boosting your confidence and Mahmudullah had shown great qualities of a captain including the changes he made during the match,” said Pathan speaking at the Nerolac Cricket Live show on Star Sports.
There was a hint of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in his captaincy as he also used part-time bowlers after the power play which is a strategy often used by Dhoni,” he added.
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh also praised the efforts of Mushfiqur Rahim. In the first T20I, Rahim played impressively as he scored 60* runs in 43 balls. Harbhajan said that he has a big responsibility as a batsman for the team. The spinner opines that Mushfiqur is better than Mahmudullah.
“Mushfiqur Rahim is a player with a lot of experience, his ability to play both spin and pace bowling is great and he has the maximum responsibility in the Bangladesh squad in terms of batting which gives him an edge over Mahmudullah who is also a good player for the Bangladesh team,” said Harbhajan.
Both the teams have headed to play the third and last T20I match of the ongoing series in Nagpur. The match will decide the winner of the T20I series. If Bangladesh win the series then it will be their first T20I series win against India.