No force could derail India’s steamroller as they notched up their fourth victory in the ICC Cricket World Cup, defeating Bangladesh by 7 wickets in Pune. The Indian bowlers pulled things back in the middle overs after the Bangladesh openers got off to a flier in the opening overs, as Rohit Sharma used his resources most efficiently with Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah. In reply, Bangladesh was blown away by another batting masterclass from India’s top order. Virat Kohli punched through to his 48th ODI hundred along with Shubman Gill who got to his first World Cup fifty.
The MCA stadium in Pune was touted to be batting-friendly by the experts, which was reiterated as Bangladesh Openers put up 93 runs in 15 overs. However, the story of the Indian bowlers continued through middle overs as they applied breaks to the run rate complemented by some exemplary fielding efforts all over, restricting Bangladesh to just 256-8 on a batting track.
Bangladesh was dealt an early blow as their skipper Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out due to a quadriceps injury, forcing Najmul Shanto to double up as stand-in skipper. Bangladesh decided to bat after winning the toss, and for the first time in this World Cup, the Indian pacers were put under test by openers Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das, who went through powerplay without the loss of wickets. India was also dealt a blow when Hardik Pandya, who was bowling only his 3rd ball, injured his left leg in the follow-through and went off the field, forcing Virat Kohli to complete the over.
Shadul Thakur’s first over proved to be expensive, and adding insult to injury he also dropped a tough return catch. Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Tanzid Hasan soon after getting to his fifty providing an opening to India. Stand-in skipper Najmul Shanto was also dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja in a similar fashion. A breathtaking catch behind the wicket from KL Rahul off the bowling of Mohammad Siraj sent Mehidy Hasan back to the dugout cheaply.
Rohit Sharma kept rotating his bowlers and never allowed the Bangladesh batsman to settle against anyone. Ravindra Jadeja bowled a tight line and did not let the batters score freely, Jadeja was rewarded for his accuracy when Litton Das lost patience and hit one straight to long off. Veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudiullah put on a fight with the former scoring 38 off 46 balls and later scoring a fluent 46 off 36 deliveries.
Mushfiqur Rahim departed after heroics from Ravindra Jadeja at point, who dived to his right to take a blinder of a catch. Mahmudullah Innings took Bangaldesh to a score of 256-8, throwing away the start they received.
The chase was on, with some regular scenes of Indian openers dominating the opposition bowlers. Bavnglaesh bowlers were no match to the India pair as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill launched an onslaught against pacers and spinners alike as they scored runs for fun. Shubman Gill playing only his second match of the World Cup looked on song, while playing some classic drives.
The Indian openers raced to 88 runs in 12 overs before Bangladesh could make any impact on the game. Rohit Sharma found the fielder at deep Midwicket trying to repeat his pullshot off Hasan Mahmud. Virat Kohli who came out to bat had the most savored start for any batter, as he got 2 free hits of his first two balls.
Shubman Gill soon got to his fifty, his first in world cups, but soon departed trying to continue the aggression. Virat Kohli, batting at one his favorite ground, tookover from there and smashed a barnstorming ton against Bangladesh and took India home.
It was a good win- Rohit Sharma
During the post match presentation, Rohit Sharma was quite pleased with the team’s performance after the win against Bangladesh. Rohit Sharma gave credit to Ravindra Jadeja for his performance with the ball in hand and heaped praise on the star batter Virat Kohli for his flamboyant ton which took India home.
“It was a good win, something we were looking forward to. We didn’t start well, but the guys pulled it back in the middle-overs and at the back-end. Our fielding has been superb in all these matches, it’s something that’s in your control, you can put in your best effort,” said Rohit Sharma.
“The bowlers were smart to understand what lengths to bowl. Jaddu was brilliant with the ball and the catch, but you can’t beat a hundred. We’re doing well as a group, a medal for all performances in the playing field and that’s something which motivates everyone to do well (speaking about dressing room awards),” he stated.
“He (Hardik) pulled up a bit sore, nothing really major to worry. We’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow morning and then plan on how to go forward. Everyone in the squad has gone through pressure, the crowd is coming in big numbers, the stands are full, they haven’t disappointed us, they’ve been brilliant and I’m sure they’ll be louder and louder as we move on,” he added.