Suryakumar Yadav, the T20I captain of India, feels that even though the team management is going through a tough time in the selection of the bowling line-up, it’s a powerful sign for the whole team in the shortest format of the game. When they have so many good options to address the final eleven, it always becomes tough for the captain to make the final selection.
India started brilliantly with the ball in hand as they kept on taking wickets of the Bangladesh side at regular intervals. The openers couldn’t make a significant contribution in the game, while the top order failed to get going along with the weak middle order of the visiting side.
They bundled out the tourists for just 128 runs, as their left-arm seam bowler Arshdeep Singh ended with three wickets, giving away just 14 runs in 3.1 overs, while Varun Chakaravarthy, who was making a comeback in the game, picked up three more crucial wickets in the encounter.
During the chase, India made a superb start with the bat, as Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma drilled the bowlers all around the park. The wicket-keeper batter thumped 29 runs in 19 deliveries, whereas Abhishek Sharma nailed 16 runs in seven deliveries.
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Captain Suryakumar Yadav showed intent from the beginning of the innings as he used his power and some of those supreme shots to nail 29 runs in 14 deliveries, shouldering on a couple of boundaries and three over boundaries at a strike rate of over 200.
At the end, it was the premier all-rounder of India, Hardik Pandya, who displayed his fantastic performance later in the innings to remain unbeaten on 39 runs in just 16 deliveries, shouldering on five boundaries and two sixes to carry them over the line.
India’s T20I captain addresses bowling selection as ‘good headache’
Going into the first T20I game of the three-match series, the Indian team had a good issue in selecting their batting line-up. They had called back their mystery spinner, Varun Chakaravarthy, for the first time since the end of the 2021 T20 World Cup, where he struggled to find the right line and length. So, benching him wouldn’t make him a great option, as he was the second-highest wicket-taker of the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) with 21 scalps in 14 innings at an average of under 20 and an economy rate of 8.04.
Ravi Bishnoi was supposed to be the main spinner in the department for India, as since India moved away from Yuzvendra Chahal, the former came into the scene and has done well for his 48 scalps in 32 innings at an average of below 19 and a strike rate of 15.5.
“We just tried to back our skills and what we decided in our team meetings, it worked out. The way the guys showed character playing on a new ground and the way we batted, it was great.” The T20I captain of India expressed at the end of the game.
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Even in the pace bowling department, the toss-up was expected to be between Harshit Rana and Mayank Yadav. The latter excited the captain and the team management with his extra pace. which he displayed in the last IPL of the 2024 season for the LSG franchise. However, Rana was the top wicket-taker of the league with 24 scalps in 14 games at an economy rate of nearly ten.
“It’s a good headache to have when you are on the field on whom to bowl. Every time you have an extra option, it’s a good thing. You learn something new every new game. There are always a few areas to improve on, We will sit down and talk about it in the next game.” Suryakumar Yadav concluded as they move for the second game of the series in Delhi.