A counterattacking half-century from Rohit Sharma lifted India to 166, paving the way for a massive 45-run victory in the Asia Cup opener against Bangladesh in Mirpur
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Vishal Dikshit
11.10pm That's all we have from the Asia Cup opener where India have started off with a convincing win against the hosts. Here's the report from the ground by Alagappan in case you missed the action. Tomorrow will bring us a new day, new hopes, new happiness, new fortunes Sri Lanka v UAE, so join us for that too. Until then, this is Vishal and Raghav signing off, ta ta!
Presentation:
Mortaza: Last 15 years I've seen that fans always support us. We were in the game till the 14th over but after that Rohit took the game away from us. We bowled a lot of slower ones later and the ball was not gripping.
Rohit is the Man of the Match: It's important for me to start afresh and not look back too much. This is a perfect platform for us before the World Cup. It was unusual to see this kind of wicket in this part of the world. It was always important for one batter to bat as long as possible and I told myself I had to do that. I was focusing on my basics on this kind of the pitch, use the pace of the bowlers. It was a good wicket and the ball was carrying.
Dhoni: It would've been good to win the toss. We wanted to see the kind of start and then set a target. It was kind of 55-45 with the toss. Rather than hitting the big shots straight down, it was important to cut and use such shots since they were bowling short of length. 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. I'll be able to sit tomorrow (about the back).
10.51pm India open the Asia Cup with a convincing win against the hosts. At one point India were in trouble with early wickets down and the Bangladeshi bowlers not giving many runs. But Rohit's 83 charged them well past 150 and some sizzling swing bowling from Nehra, along with Bumrah, made sure Bangladesh never recovered from their early losses. A lot of feedback coming in that Shakib's drop of Rohit at the score of 21 cost them the match. Sounds true now
Nehra: It was a 140-150 track but with the way Rohit and Hardik batted, they gave us some extra runs. There was something for the bowlers later also if one bowled in the right areas. Once I bowled my first over we were sure that we wouldn't let them score much. I don't mind the kind of pitch we got in Pune, honestly, and the one today was not an up and down pitch. I was upset with myself now with Hardik when I threw my cap.
Hendry: "Had Jadeja not conceded those two wides, all 5 bowlers would have ended up with same figures 4-0-23-"
Goes round the wicket
Waiting for the formality now...
Rohit Sharma's 83 off 55 balls was the "kind of batting that was really needed," in the words of his captain MS Dhoni
Bangladesh's forward-thinking method against India made them look stronger and more confident, so it should not be overruled by a safety-first approach in the next encounter against UAE
With MS Dhoni being an uncertain starter for the Asia Cup opener, Virat Kohli has said that India need to sort out their batting combination and shake up things
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza identified Mustafizur Rahman's ability to shield himself from pressure as his major strength
A counterattacking half-century from Rohit Sharma lifted India to 166, paving the way for a massive 45-run victory in the Asia Cup opener against Bangladesh in Mirpur
