Published: Feb 24, 2016, 11:57 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 25, 2016, 10:23 AM (IST)
Mirpur: In a rarest of rare instance in international cricket, four of the five Indian bowlers used in the opening Asia Cup Twenty20 encounter against Bangladesh, finished with the same economy rate here tonight. And had it not been for the two wides left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja bowled in the final over, all the five bowlers would have finished with the same economy rate, a rarity in any form of international cricket. Favourites India launched their campaign in style as they thrashed Bangladesh by 45 runs riding on a brilliant 83 by Rohit Sharma and a cameo by young Hardik Pandya. India put up 166 for six in the stipulated 20 overs. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs Bangladesh, Asia Cup T20 2016, Match 1 at Dhaka
The bowlers then completed the job with ease, restricting the home team to 121 for seven. Veteran seamer Ashish Nehra was the pick of the Indian bowling attack, picking up three wickets for 23 runs in his quota of four overs.
The other bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya and Ashwin picked – were not as successful as Nehra but conceded exactly the same number of runs from as many overs. Jadeja could not join them as he finished with figures of 1 for 25.
Meanwhile, Indian skipper MS Dhoni was once again seen praising Hardik Pandya afterthe latter’s cameo in India’s convincing win at Dhaka on Wednesday. He called the young all-rounder an “overall package” who could be promoted in the batting order in the coming days. “Batting fearlessly is Hardik’s strength and that’s why we want to give him more matches, he’s a good fielder too and a useful third seamer,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony. He added, “He is an overall package we can promote him often,” as that gives them the option of “playing an extra batsman.”
