India stand-in captain Rohit Sharma lauded spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar for pulling things back after Bangladesh got off to a very good start in the 2nd T20I at Rajkot. India restricted Bangladesh for 153 for 6 despite the visitors scoring at more than 8.5 runs per over till the powerplay. In reply, India chased down the total in just 15.4 overs with 7 wickets in hand riding on Rohit’s brilliant 43-ball 85-run knock. This victory meant India drew level with Bangladesh, pushing the three-match series to the decider on Sunday in Nagpur.
Indian bowlers led by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/28) made an impressive comeback towards the back end of the innings while Washington Sundar (1/25) bowled well both up front and in the middle of the innings.
“Both the spinners are very smart and they understand their bowling really well. They always have conversations with coach and the captain as how to improve. They played a lot of domestic cricket and (Washington) Sundar has been our new ball bowler and today I wanted to change it considering how big the ground is,” said Rohit who was adjudged man of the match.
Chasing a modest 154 for victory, Rohit looked in his imperious best from the get-go as he hit six fours and six sixes to take the tie away from the visitors single-handedly. He was looking good for his fifth T20 century but fell short in the end as he was caught by substitute Mohammad Mithun at deep midwicket off Aminul Islam in the 13th over.
“I always knew this is a good track to bat on and with dew coming in it will be difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball and we took maximum advantage of that.
“I knew the conditions were perfect and all I wanted to do was remain stationed and hit the ball. We want to finish well and there is a whole West Indies series coming up and not to forget the two Test matches as well,” Rohit said after the match.
Leading from the front after missing a catch of Liton Das earlier in the day, the ace batsman, who became the second Indian from his country to play 100 T20I internationals, brought up his 18th T20 fifty off just 23 balls and then smashed Mosaddek Hossain for three back-to-back sixes in the 10th over to underline his ruthlessness. His innings was laced with six fours and six sixes.
Rohit never looked in any sort of discomfort as he milked the Bangladesh bowlers around. He hit the ball for sixes, and his fours were as elegant as you can get. Shikhr Dhawan could only applaud some of his shots from the other end as Rohit joined Shoaib Malik of Pakistan (111) and Indian women’s cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur (100) in becoming only the third cricketer to play 100 international matches in the shortest format of the game in style.
He walked off the ground after being dismissed to a rousing reception.
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