Bangladesh is currently touring India to play a three match T20 series and two test matches.
Cricket in Bangladesh has been hit with a lot of controversies in the last couple of months after the players threatened to strike if the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) did not listen to their demands and meet their requirements.
The BCB managed to work out these issues and persuaded the players to tour India.
However, they were rocked with another scandal as their T20 captain and top all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan was suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two years. The suspension was handed out as Shakib Al-Hasan did not follow ICC protocol and report an individual who approached him to fix a match.
Bangladesh were the betting underdogs going into the first T20 taking place in Delhi. There were concerns as to whether the match will take place as Delhi’s air quality is so poor that the government suspended all schools from working till Nov 5. However, the BCB and the BCCI decided to go ahead with the game and fans turned out in thousands to see the two sides battle it out.
Cricbuzz
Bangladesh did not let the off field drama impact their performance on the field as they looked great with both the bat and ball. India batted first and Rohit Sharma captained the side as the selectors have decided to rest Virat Kohli for the T20 series.
India struggled to get going as they lost their captain early and the experienced Shikhar Dhawan struggled with his timing. He was the highest scorer for India with 41 runs but it came at a strike rate of 97 which is okay when you are playing ODI cricket but not acceptable when you are opening the batting in a T20 game.
India were able to get to 148 thanks to some lusty hitting at the end from W Sundar and K Pandya.
Bangladesh did not look in any trouble as they planned their chase well and always looked in control. Mushfiqur Rahim won the man of the match award for his unbeaten 60 of 43 balls and captain Mahmudullah took his side home hitting 15 of 7 balls.
R Sharma has called on his younger players like Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Khaleel Ahmed and Shivam Dube to step up for the next game and make significant contributions. The second T20 takes place on Nov 7.
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