Making 5 changes to the playing XI costed India dearly as the Men in Blue succumbed to a 6-run defeat at the hands of Bangladesh at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. As this game was a dead rubber, India decided to test their bench strength and ended up tasting a defeat against Bangladesh for the first time in 11 years in the Asia Cup.
Bowling first after winning the toss, experimentation was the key agenda for India in this match. Rohit Sharma mentioned at the toss as well that he wanted to see how things pan out for India as they hadn’t chased in the Asia Cup in this edition.
On the other hand, Bangladesh ended their Asia Cup 2023 campaign on a high after losses to Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Super 4s.
In this article, we take a look at the top 3 talking points of IND vs BAN in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023:
1. Shakib Al Hasan’s rescue act
After the Indian bowlers spun their web and bamboozled the Bangladeshi top-order batters, skipper Shakib Al Hasan played a captain’s knock and rescued his team from the danger waters. Shakib scored 80 runs in 85 deliveries and his knock was lacked with 6 fours and 3 sixes.
Shakib’s innings helped Bangladesh power themselves to a respectable and commanding total of 265 runs.
2. Shardul Thakur’s impressive bowling
Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur proved to everyone that he is a jewel for the Indian cricket team. In this IND vs BAN game at Colombo, Thakur bagged 3 wickets and prevented Bangladesh from getting a big total on the board.
He bagged 3 wickets and had a good economy of 6.50. Shardul Thakur is an invaluable asset of Team India and his stocks will keep rising in the coming games. Thakur’s wickets in this game were Tanzid Hasan, Anamul Haque and skipper Shakib Al Hasan.
3. Shubman Gill’s innings went in vain
Indian opener Shubman Gill smashed his 6th international century in 2023 and his innings in this match was an epitome of greatness. Gill scored 121 runs in just 133 balls and his innings was packed with 8 fours and 5 sixes.
Despite Gill’s brilliance in this game and his dominance against pacers and spinners, India ended up being on the losing side.
He was dismissed by Mahedi Hasan and that proved to be the turning point in the game as it infused hope and belief into the Bangladeshi camp.
Also read: ICC ODI World Cup 2023: 3 Reasons Why Rohit Sharma Can Have A Good Tournament
