Nidahas Trophy 2018, Bangladesh vs India: Hits and Misses

After a surprising defeat against Sri Lanka in the opening game of the Nidahas Trophy, Rohit Sharma and Co. bounced back to winning ways with a convincing victory against Bangladesh at the R-Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday (March 8).

The Men in Blue won the toss and chose to bowl first. Bangladesh started off slowly and lost wickets at regular interval to wrap up their innings at 139-8 after 20 overs.

India chased the target with more than an over to spare and lost four wickets in the process. They now have one victory and one loss in the tri-series.

Here are the hits and misses from their triumph against Bangladesh.

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#5 Hit: Shikhar Dhawan

The Indian opener unarguably is one of the most consistent performers for India in LOI right now, just behind his regular skipper, Virat Kohli. Shikhar Dhawan has been in exceptional form for India in both ODIs and T20Is for quite some time now and has answered his critics with some splendid knocks in the past couple of months.

With his second consecutive fifty of the series, the left-handed batsman played an integral role in the Indian innings and ensured that Sharma's early dismissal did not hamper the tempo chase.

He scored 55 runs off just 43 deliveries and his knock consisted of five boundaries and two big sixes into the crowd.

#4 Miss: Rishabh Pant

The wicket-keeper batsman hasn't brought his best to the table as of yet

A lot has been spoken about this young and dynamic left-hander in the past twelve months. He is touted to be the successor to Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the national setup and is considered to be a bright and blistering prospect for the future.

The former Indian skipper has been rested for this series and the youngster has taken his place in the playing XI. However, Rishabh Pant has failed to make a mark in this series and has not extracted the most out of the opportunity as of yet.

The skipper and team management showed a lot of faith in him to send him in at No. 3 today. The 20-year-old played a beautifully-lofted drive over mid-wicket and it seemed like his day was finally here.

However, that was all that he could muster before being dismissed by Rubel Hossain in the sixth over of the innings. He scored 7 runs off 8 deliveries in his short stay at the crease.

#3 Hit: Rubel Hossain

The 28-year-old was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers on the day

The right-arm fast-medium bowler had a good day in the office today. Evidently, it did not start very well, as he was sent back to the pavilion for a golden duck after being run-out in the first innings of the game.

However, Rubel Hossain turned it around in the chase and it was his spell that put India in a spot of bother in the middle overs. With his seam bowling, he dismissed the left-handed duo of Pant and Suresh Raina to cripple India's middle order.

In his spell of 3.4 overs, he gave away just 24 runs and picked up two wickets. He was impressive on the day and was hit for just two boundaries on the day.

#2 Miss: The Bangladesh opening batsmen

Tamim Iqbal scored just 15 runs on the day

Bangladesh got off to a decent start in the first couple of overs in Colombo and it looked like the opening batsmen were slowly settling into the innings.

However, Soumya Sarkar was then dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat in the third over of the game. He could add just 14 runs to the board before returning to the pavilion.

The onus of maintaining the momentum lied solely on Tamim Iqbal then, one of the most reliable batsmen in the Bangladesh batting order. However, even he couldn't get past the teens and was scalped by Shardul Thakur in the fifth over, having added 15 runs to the scoreboard.

The early return of both their openers, literally and figuratively, put Bangladesh on the backfoot then!

#1 Hit: Bowling duo of Vijay Shankar and Yuzvendra Chahal

The right-arm medium seamer Vijay Shankar was the highlight of the Indian bowling attack

The Indian bowlers were the true architects of this victory and it was the collaboration of Yuzvendra Chahal and Vijay Shankar that swung things in India's favour in the middle overs of the Bangladesh innings.

The duo, in the eight combined overs that they bowled, picked up 3 wickets between them and gave away just 51 runs.

Chahal was exceptional in terms of controlling the run-rate and bowled at an exception bowling economy of 4.8.

Shankar, who was the Player of the Match, scalped two crucial wickets in the form of experienced batsman Mushfiqur Rahim and the Bangladesh skipper, Mahmudullah. It was a special game for the 27-year-old, who made a huge impact on the proceedings in just his second appearance in international cricket.