Bangladesh Put Us Under Pressure Right From Start: Rohit Sharma

A win for Bangladesh was not at all in the script. The visitors were not only without two of their biggest players – Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan- but had also never beaten India in a T20I game in the last 8 meetings. No surprises then that the Rohit Sharma-led India were the firm favourites to win the first T20I in Delhi.

However, all the past records and predictions went for a toss as the Tigers inflicted a crushing seven-wicket defeat on their fancied hosts. India started and finished the game on a poor note which eventually cost them the game. Asked to bat first, India recovered from a shaky start to post a challenging total of 148 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs.

Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with 41 while Rishabh Pant scored 27 from 26. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Krunal Pandya and Washington Sundar also played handy knocks. For Bangladesh, Shafiul Islam and Aminul Islam picked up two wickets apiece.

Also Read: Twitter Reacts As Bangladesh Pull Off A Stunning Victory Against India

That's that from Delhi. Bangladesh win the 1st T20I by 7 wickets and go 1-0 up in the 3-match series.#INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/z2ezFlifYx

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 3, 2019

In reply, Bangladesh chased down the total with three balls remaining. Senior batsman Mushfiqur Rahim starred with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 60. In the 19th over, Rahim hit four consecutive fours to all but put the game to the bed before skipper Mahmudullah hit a six to take the team over the line.

Speaking at the end of the game, India skipper Rohit Sharma credited Bangladesh for putting up a good performance. The opening batsman said that the visitors kept the hosts under pressure right from the word go. He also defended his inexperienced teammates before praising Yuzvendra Chahal.

“Not to take credit away fro Bangladesh. They put us under pressure right from the start when we were batting. It was a defendable score, and we made mistakes on the field. The guys are a bit inexperienced, and they can learn from that, perhaps not make them the next time. The reviews were a mistake from our side, not to talk about it at least, and the first ball he played on the backfoot, we thought it was going down leg, and the next one on the frontfoot, but we forgot how short he is!,” said Rohit Sharma.

“We weren’t upto the mark on the field, but batting-wise I think we put up a competitive score. Chahal was always welcomed into this format. He’s crucial to this team, and he showed how important he is in the middle overs, when the batsmen are set,” he added.