India crush Bangladesh to complete a successful dress rehearsal ahead of T20 World Cup 2024

Team India hit the stride on a victorious note ahead of their T20 World Cup campaign as they bested Bangladesh in their solitary warm-up match. It was an all-round display from the Men in Blue that saw them carving a comfortable victory over a struggling Bangladesh.

Winning the toss, India opted to bat first. Despite Sanju Samson (1) falling early, Rohit Sharma (23) and Rishabh Pant (53) saw them through the powerplay. The skipper took care of the initial aggression while Pant was quick to switch gears on his return in the Indian threads.

Mahmudullah got the better of Rohit Sharma but that did very little to dampen the Indian spirits as Suryakumar Yadav looked in fine touch too. Yadav hammered 31 off 18 while Pant retired out after completing his half-century.

Shivam Dube (14) failed to leave a lasting impression but it was Hardik Pandya’s late flourish, which included three big sixes off Tanvir Islam, as he stayed unbeaten for 40 off 23 balls to steer India to a formidable 182/5 at the end of their 20 overs.

The Indian bowlers had no worries whatsoever in dismantling the Bangladeshi top-order as Arshdeep Singh’s early double whammy first removed Soumya Sarkar (0) with an out-swinger and Liton Das (6) with an inswinger that pitched back of length, which threw Bangladesh off the rails.

Najmul Hossain Shanto (0) joined the woeful parade of long faces in the Bangladeshi dugout in no time whatsoever as Mohammed Siraj got the better of him with sheer brute pace that was more than enough to get rid of the Bangladeshi skipper.

Towhid Hridoy (13) and opener Tanzid Hasan (17) did get the wheels rolling but that wasn’t enough as another double blow in quick succession saw both of them heading back to the pavilion. It was Shakib-al-Hasan (28) and Mahmudullah (40) that stabilized the ship for India’s neighbours but the damage was already done.

India emerged victorious by a staggering margin of 60 runs as Shivam Dube and Arshdeep Singh topped the bowling charts with a brace each. Given the fact that this was a warm-up game, there were no awards to give away.