Gargi Raut in Dubai
On September 24, one of the few drama-free days in the Asia Cup saw the India vs Bangladesh match. While the Bangladeshi fans buzzed for a glimpse of their team, India fans sat back and enjoyed another ‘Abhishek Sharma’ show. Most of India games at the Dubai International Stadium saw packed stands, but today was a rare case of it only being half-full, with a majority being Bangladeshi fans.
Bangladesh’s first breakthrough came after a quick but painful 19-ball 29 from India’s vice-captain Shubman Gill. The opener, in an attempt to play another big shot, miscued it into the hands of Tanzim Hasan, off the bowling of Rishad Hossain.
Surprisingly, it was Shivam Dube who was sent up the order, possibly with the management wanting to give him some game time. But his time out in the middle was short-lived as he was caught by Towhid Hridoy off a googly from Hossain.
The man of the day returned to the pavilion after a brilliant bit of fielding. Abhishek, at the non-striker’s end, was looking for a single but then had to go back. He failed to make it to his crease in time, as Hossain calmly collected the ball and took the bails off. Abhishek’s 75 (37 balls) came to end just as fans anticipated a century. His innings included five maximums and six 4s. His fiery innings, coupled with Gill’s support at the other end, took the team to 112 in 12 overs.
Next in line was Suryakumar Yadav (5), who had another failure in the tournament, losing his wicket to a Mustafizur Rahman delivery that he tried to flick the ball but ended up glancing to the keeper.
Things started heating up by the 15th over when Tilak Varma (5) lost his wicket, with only 129 runs on the board and only five overs left in the game. But Hardik Pandya played another important cameo lower down the order, listing the run-rate with a flurry of shots in the 18th over. Hardik’s 39-run partnership with Axar Patel took India’s total to 168 for 6.
But at the end of the day, it was another evening in Abhishek’s world. Every delivery his bat touches seems to be a four or six. And like Ryan Ten Doescathe said in the press conference ahead of the game, “His fearlessness is backed up by immense skill”.