India vs Bangladesh 1st T20I | First T20I win for Bangladesh against India

New Delhi: Bangladesh recorded their first victory over India in a T20I in nine attempts. It was an impressive performance from the Bangladeshi players who outplayed India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi to record a 7 wicket win on Sunday. Mushfiqur Rahim was the star of the show for Bangladesh as he scored an unbeaten fifty to chase down India’s total in the penultimate over to give Bangladesh a historic victory.

India managed a par score of 148 runs on a sluggish wicket at Delhi with Krunal Pandya and Washington Sundar providing a late blitz. However, Pandya dropped a crucial catch during an important stage of the match which cost India the match.

By the time India finished their innings after being sent in by Bangladesh the pitch was on the slower side. Yes there was something in it for the spinners and even for the seamers if they rolled their fingers over the ball and varied their lengths but isn’t that normal in Delhi? 

It still remains one of the few Indian grounds where the average first innings total is well-below 150. And to be fair to India they did get to 148 at the end of their 20 overs and Bangladesh too had their fair share of troubles in the second innings, taking 19.3 overs to chase it down then what’s the fuss? The problem was with India’s confused way of dealing with a T20 innings, especially when batting first.

A chase of 149 was not a difficult one for the visitors. But on a sluggish Delhi wicket, India’s spinners led by Yuzvendra Chahal were quietly applying the choke. But Rahim, who walked in at No. 4, was involved in two crucial partnerships a 60-run stand with Soumya Sarkar, followed by an unbeaten 40-run stand with captain Mahmudullah that sealed Bangladesh’s chase with three deliveries to spare. 

Krunal Pandya and Khaleel Ahmed faced criticism from the fans for their efforts in the match:

Perhaps the turning point in the run chase came when Bangladesh needed 33 runs off 16 balls. Rahim, who pulled one of Chahal's deliveries straight in the pockets of Krunal Pandya, on the deep mid-wicket boundary. Krunal Pandya dropped a conventional catch.

Rahim, batting at 38 then, was dropped by Pandya in what would have been a straight-forward catch. To rub salt into the wounds, the ball danced away to the fence for a four.

With nothing to lose and victory pretty much in sight, Rahim switched on the attack mode.

On the receiving end was Khaleel Ahmed, who was struck for four consecutive boundaries by Rahim in the next over. Khaleel went for 18 runs in the penultimate over of the match as the equation came down from 22 needed in 12 balls to a boundary needed in last over.

Rahim did not have any brain-fade moment tonight. He was an epitome of composure and class. In the end, his unbeaten 43-ball 60 handed Bangladesh an emphatic 7-wicket win and take a 1-0 lead in this three-match T20 series.