Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya took an instant liking to the conditions in New York as most of the India batters made good use of the warm-up game against Bangladesh on Saturday. The drop-in pitch played slow and timing the shots wasn’t easy but India had a useful workout before their T20 World Cup campaign starts with the league matches at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Pant celebrated his first game in India blues since suffering serious injuries in a car accident in December 2022, scoring a fluent half-century (53 – 32b). Pandya was a different batter to the one who struggled in IPL, scoring a fluent 40* off 23 balls with four sixes. Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma also got useful batting time. Yadav got 31 off 18 balls and Rohit 23 off 19 balls as India, batting first, made 182/5. Bangladesh were restricted to 120/9.
Being a new cricket venue, the main interest was the behaviour of the pitch. There was a huge crowd of mostly Indian fans to cheer them on. The batters needed to understand the scoring areas and the bowlers had to find the right lengths. The surface offered extra bounce and was two-paced. Hitting through the line wasn’t easy, but Pant showed runs can be had when one looked to hit square of the pitch.
Left-arm Arshdeep Singh led an impressive bowling performance. For the pacers there was purchase on pitching it up, with lateral movement and extra bounce. While India’s batters managed to adjust and improvise, the struggle of the Bangladesh batters highlighted the challenge when they were reduced to 10/3 inside four overs. Arshdeep, Mohammed Siraj and Pandya reduced it to 41/5 after 8.2 overs.
For India, there was the important matter of firming up the playing XI for the opening Group A game against Ireland on June 5. With their decision to open with Sanju Samson, the team management got their answer for two key positions. It means Virat Kohli — he skipped the game and only did his warm-up after reaching New York on Friday — should open with Rohit Sharma.
Pant made a case for his selection ahead of Samson with smart play. He got the innings going with three sixes off Shakib Al Hasan in the sixth over and completed his fifty (4×4, 4×6) before retiring, having helped India reach 100 in 11.1 overs. Samson, who had a fine run for Rajasthan Royals, was trapped in front by left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam for a 6-ball 1.
Dube’s lack of rhythm was a cause a concern but Pandya played a delectable innings to give India an extra option for the finisher’s role. Starting with a lovely four past extra cover and dancing down the ground and driving, Hardik hit three sixes off Tanvir Islam.
Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan (28) and Mahmudullah (40) had useful batting stints in a 70-run partnership but Indian bowlers were always in control.
