India vs Bangladesh: Arshdeep, Varun steer India to thumping victory

Mayank Yadav bowled with rattling pace in a promising debut while mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy made an impressive comeback to set up India’s dominating seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the series-opening T20I.

India, oozing with fresh talent, bundled out Bangladesh for a below-par 127 before the batters played an array of audacious strokes to gun down the target in 11.5 overs. Sizzling cameos from Sanju Samson (29 off 19), skipper Suryakumar Yadav (29 off 14) and Hardik Pandya (39 not out off 16) ensured a breezy chase for the hosts.

We just tried to back our skills and what we decided in the team meeting, we just walked the talk. The way the guys showed their character on the field, first time playing on a new ground, and the way we batted, showed our character. Very excited and looking forward to seeing them (debutants) in the next games — Suryakumar Yadav, India captain

A full house witnessed high quality bowling from India and largely ordinary batting from their opponents. All eyes were on Mayank (1/21) ever since he marked his run-up before the toss and the 22-year-old from Delhi did not disappoint in his first competitive game in more than five months.

Having attracted global eyeballs for consistently bowling in the 150kmph range during the IPL, Mayank was able to generate serious pace in his opening spell, starting with a maiden.

Having suffered a side strain shortly after a sensational IPL debut, there were question marks over his fitness in the long term but he dispelled some of those doubts on Sunday. Veteran batter Mahmudullah was among the batters who were wary of his extra pace and ended up becoming the pacer’s first international wicket.

Varun (3/31), brought back into the team after nearly three years, troubled the Bangladesh batters.

Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh (3/14) played his part in the powerplay by removing openers Litton Das and Parvez Hossain Emon before picking his third wicket to end Bangladesh’s innings.

India came out to bat with an aggressive intent with Abhishek Sharma (16 off 7) and Samson going hard from the get go. Promoted to the top, Samson played delightful shots before falling to off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Pick up shots off pacer Taskin Ahmed in the fifth over was the highlight of Suryakumar’s innings.

Brief scores: Bangladesh: 127 all out in 19.5 overs (Miraz 35*; Arshdeep 3/14, Varun 3/31); India: 132/3 in 11.5 overs (Hardik 39*, Sanju 29, Suryakumar 29).