In their one and only warm-up fixture against Bangladesh, for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, India sent a strong message with a heavy 60-run win, showing strong performance in the batting and bowling department, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 01.
The pitch looked a bit tacky to start with in the early morning of New York, as the ball tend to hold off the surface, and batting became so tough against the pacers, while whenever the spinners have put the deliveries in the right line and length, they have been blessed with rewards.
Openers from both the camps found it quite tough to get bat on the ball, while only the batters with pure technique mastered the conditions pretty well, and India were ahead in those circumstances than Bangladesh.
‘This is definitely not IPL’ – Mohammad Kaif’s warning for India
Virat Kohli reached the country later on May 31, which ruled him out of contention for the practice game, as Inia captain Rohit Sharma opted to bat first, after winning the toss, which was a good decision being unknown of the condition and putting themselves under the bus during a practice game.
Also Read: Shaheen Afridi Set To Skip The Hundred 2024
Everyone was surprised when they saw Rohit opening the batting wit Sanju Samson, which kind of confirmed a few decisions for the inaugural champions of the tournament, going into their opening fixture against Ireland, on June 05, at the same venue.
The left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal won’t be coming into the scheme of things, right from the start, while perhaps, India will be going a opening stand between two of their most experienced players- Rohit and Kohli.
Samson didn’t disturb the scorers at all, as he went back to the hut for a personal score of one in six balls, after being adjusted leg before the stumps (LBW) against the left-arm pace of Shoriful Islam. Rishabh Pant walked into the middle in India colours, after a gap of more than a year. He took a little bit of time before blasting the fire crackers against the spinners.
Meanwhile, Rohit after a steady start was dismissed for 23-runs in 19 deliveries, as Pant celebrated a 32-ball 53 runs before getting retired out. Suryakumar Yadav began to smash from where he finished the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, as he shouldered to 31-runs in 18 balls, with the help of four boundaries, and quite a few doubles.
But the biggest positive for India with the bat was the return of Hardik Pandya, who ended with unbeaten 40-runs in 23 deliveries, thanks to his couple of boundaries and four maximums, to propel the semifinalist of the last season to 182/5 in their 20-overs.
Mohammad Kaif, the former India batter, using his ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) warned the ‘Blue Brigade’ about the slow and tricky surface of the ground, as he felt that only players with good technique will be able to score runs there.
Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: Suresh Raina Supports India To Beat Pakistan
‘If pitches play the same in New York, batting will be tough. Spongy bounce, slow and big outfield, movement of ball – only batsmen with technique will score runs here. This is definitely not IPL,” Former India batter, Mohammad Kaif wrote on ‘X’.
Bangladesh, in reply, was never in the chase, as the left-arm pace of Arshdeep Singh was too hot to handle for them. Everyone had at least a couple of overs with the ball, as Rohit’s usage of Shivam Dube with the ball is expected to benefit India.
Yuzvendra Chahal didn’t get a chance to roll his arms, which is quite a good indication that perhaps India are going with Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel as their two all-rounders, besides Chainaman Kuldeep Yadav. It will be interesting to see who partners Jasprit Bumrah in the pace department, against Ireland.