Another thrilling game was created by the
much-maligned Asia Cup. In a nail-biting conclusion, Bangladesh managed to
defeat India by one run, holding on to 265 despite a magnificent Shubman Gill
century.
Although they may have already been eliminated from
the Asia Cup, Bangladesh showed the depth of skill in the nation as a new-look
team with five changes managed to defeat the eventual winners and World Cup
favourites, India. The turnaround was created by Shakib Al Hasan’s repair work
with the bat and then fast bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib’s spectacular debut with
the ball despite Colombo providing a track that favoured their spinners.
India also made five adjustments, giving opportunities
to people who hadn’t competed in the competition. Axar Patel improved with the
bat, Gill overcame a six-month century drought in international cricket, and
Mohammed Shami shown that he was ready for the World Cup. However, without
Kuldeep Yadav, India’s bowling struggled against left-handed hitters.
Shakib and Nasum Ahmed combined for 124 runs off 130
deliveries after Bangladesh had at one point been reduced to 59 for 4. The
Bangladesh offspinners went for 57 off 57 against India’s right-handed hitters
and dismissed two of their finest, including Gill in the final overs, while the
two India left-arm spinners let up 70 runs off 60 balls to the Bangladesh
left-handed batters.
India would be furious that the spinners allowed
Bangladesh to reenter the match while the ball was clinging to the ground.
Shakib, who had first presented an unusual opportunity as he attempted to
retaliate, expertly transitioned through his gears with a slow recovery, easy
singles, and then three sixes off left-arm spinners.
As the pitch started to misbehave more under the
lights, Tanzim made life challenging for India’s top order. He was able to take
advantage of the surface’s seam movement and irregular bounce, dismissing Tilak
as he raised his arms and removing Rohit Sharma for a duck.
Ishan Kishan attempted to reverse his way out of
danger but never seemed at ease, and Mehidy Hasan eventually caught him in the
leg-lock for five off of fifteen. Suryakumar Yadav struck what appears to be a
respectable 26 off 34, but it was clear that he lacked safe choices to keep
turning the strike over against spin. Only two singles were made down the line,
and he mostly used the dangerous sweep stroke. Up until Shakib whacked back his
off stump, he kept eluding capture.
Alternatively, Gill batted like a pro. It demonstrated
how difficult the surface was and how excellent the bowling was that even he
occasionally had to keep patting offspinners’ backs. Nevertheless, he was able
to penalise length faults by entering the crease far, and also hit five sixes
by skipping down the pitch.
Gill, meanwhile, was unable to fully rely on the other
end. In his brief innings, Ravindra Jadeja was easily working singles, but when
Mustafizur Rahman, the returning wizard, delivered two dots at him in the 38th
over, Jadeja heaved uncharacteristically and was dismissed.
A counterattacking partnership between Gill and Axar
added 39 runs in six overs, but Mahedi’s skillful bowling ended Gill’s innings.
First of all, it takes courage to bowl offspin to Gill, a right-handed batter,
in the last overs. Additionally, Mahedi recovered from a huge six by slowing
the ball down and taking it beyond Gill’s reach, resulting in a misplay to
long-off.
Axar kept India in the game despite being pummelling
and bruised; his wrists and thigh were in agony. With two overs remaining, he
managed to strike consecutive boundaries off Mahedi’s offspin at 27 off 14,
potentially giving India the upper hand. However, Mustafizur had other plans.
Irony reached its height when Thakur froze in shock
after hitting a harmless low full toss straight to a fielder, but Axar was
effectively put out by a slower offcutter. Tanzim then finished strong as the
final couple was asked to score 12 points off the final over.