Dubai- Shubman Gill was more artisan than artist en route to his eighth ODI hundred after Mohammed Shami’s satisfying five-wicket haul, propelling India to a workmanlike six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their Champions Trophy opener here on Thursday.
Gill’s unbeaten innings (101, 129b, 9×4. 2×6) had a mirror image in Bangladesh innings through Towhid Hridoy’s 100 (118b) that lifted them to 228 from the depths of 35 for five after batting by choice.
But India negated various pressure points, including a sluggish surface, during their chase effectively through Gill’s knock full of substance, and ended up at 231 for four in 46.3 overs.
It’s also a nerve-settling victory for India ahead of their much-awaited clash against a more accomplished Pakistan at the same venue on February 23.
Gill, the world’s No. 1 ODI batter, played a massive role in it, dishing out a century which was more remarkable for its restraint than the customary flair.
It was also a reflection of his growing stature as India’s new generation batting star.
Chasing a modest 229, openers Rohit Sharma (41, 36b) and Gill gave India a rollicking start.
They added 69 runs in 9.5 overs before Rohit got out to pacer Taskin Ahmed while attempting a mighty heave, leaving India at 69 for 1.
The partnership was significant from a game point of view as the pitch slowed down considerably in the middle overs, making batting a tad tougher task.
Virat Kohli looked a bit over-watchful and circumspect before opening his account after facing 10 balls.
Though he grew comfortable, an uppish cut of leg-spinner Rishad Hossain ended his stay for 22.
The quick wickets of Axar Patel, who was once again promoted to No. 5, and Shreyas Iyer had India at a slightly worrying 144 for four.
But KL Rahul, who was dropped on nine by Jaker Ali off Taskin, ensured that there were no further hiccups and played a resolute unbeaten innings of 41 off 47 balls.
Gill and Rahul added 87 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket alliance to carry their side home.
Earlier, a cramping Hridoy, who made a courageous maiden ODI hundred and an equally gutsy Ali (68, 114b, 4×4) added 154 for a doughty sixth-wicket stand to give some respectability to Bangladesh total.
Shami impresses
India also found another shining shard of positive in Shami’s outing.
Shami also eased a lot of worries over the absence of injured pace ace Jasprit Bumrah with a five for 53 effort, and during the spell he also became the fastest Indian bowler to reach 200 ODI wickets.
Hridoy’s innings was an example of how to construct an innings yet maintain a healthy run-rate as he reached the milestone in just 114 balls.
He and Ali also showed excellent composure under pressure.
However, both the Bangladesh batters benefited from the largesse of Indian fielders, as Ali was dropped on zero off the first ball he faced off left-arm spinner Axar (2/43).
It also robbed Axar of a hat-trick after he dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim and Tanzid Hasan off successive deliveries.
Hridoy had the fortune when he was grassed by Hardik Pandya at mid-off off Kuldeep Yadav when he was on 23.
Rahul, who was sharp behind the stumps, floored a stumping chance to give the second reprieve for Hridoy.
But those moments of slip-ups should not take anything away from the way Indian bowlers, especially Shami, used the new ball on a rather slow but smooth pitch.
Shami, who had an average outing against England in T20I and ODI series recently at home, did not disappoint on the big stage and took the wicket of opener Soumya Sarkar in the first over itself.
He did not take much time to grab his second wicket when he ousted Mehdy Hasan Miraz — caught brilliantly by Shubman Gill in the slips.
The Bengal pacer later returned to break the determined stand between Hridoy and Ali, dismissing the latter.
He later took two more wickets, and now the 34-year-old is India’s highest wicket taker in ICC tournaments, going past former pacer Zaheer Khan (59).
Harshit Rana (3/31) gave good backing to his senior partner.
Rohit Sharma praises “classy” Gill and Shami
Skipper Rohit Sharma showered praise on his deputy Shubman Gill and veteran pacer Mohammed Shami for coming up with game-changing performances against Bangladesh in India’s Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh here on Thursday.
Gill made an unbeaten hundred and Shami walked away with a five-wicket haul as India registered a six-wicket win over Bangladesh at the DICS.
“We’ve been in that situation many times before and like I said many times (in the past), there’s a lot of experience in that dressing room to handle that composure where it’s needed and KL (Rahul) and (Shubman) Gill at the end were quite composed,” Rohit said during the post-match presentation.
Rohit heaped praise on player of the match Gill.
“Gill, we know the class that he has, he’s been batting brilliantly of late and today what he showed us with the bat shouldn’t surprise anyone,” he said.
“What was good to see that he was there till the end to make sure that he sees off the game,” Rohit added.
Rohit also lauded Shami for his five-for that helped the pacer to complete 200 wickets in ODIs.
“Yeah, very happy for him. (It has been a) long time waiting, we obviously know what he brings to us,” Rohit said.
“The quality that he has, the kind of match winner he is developing himself into for us, every time we throw the ball at him he’s got something up his sleeves, which is always nice and we need guys like these to stand up in big moments,” he added.
Rohit said India expect the pitch here at the Dubai International Stadium to remain slow for their next Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan on February 23.
“Very hard to say that,” Rohit replied when asked if his side thought the pitch behaved as per their expectations.
“It’s just one game, very hard to make anything out of the track, but we knew there’s not enough grass on the pitch and it is going to be on the slower side and that is exactly how the pitch played,” he said.
“But again, you play (according to) the conditions. You try and think about what you want to do as a team and I thought we adapted to the conditions really well, to start with our bowling.”
India were off to a brisk start but were forced to change their approach midway through the innings and Rohit admitted his side was “under pressure” chasing 229.
“With the bat as well, yes, we were under pressure a little bit. But when you’re playing a game like this, (in the) Champions Trophy (against a) quality team, you’re bound to be under pressure and that is where the experience comes into play,” he said.
The Mumbaikar said he was not happy with the dropped catch of Jaker Ali (68) which denied Axar Patel a hat-trick.
“May take him for dinner tomorrow,” he quipped.
“It was an easy catch. I should have taken that catch, the standard that I have set for myself, standing in the first slip, that was a little disappointing, but these things happen,” Rohit added.
“But again, the way these guys bowled that set the game for us to be honest, I know they were 36 for five and then they got a big partnership.”
“These things are bound to happen, there will be partnerships, credit to (Towhid) Hridoy and Jaker Ali, they played brilliantly to stitch that big partnership,” he said.
Gill termed his 101 not out as “one of the most satisfying innings” for himself
“Definitely (it was) one of my most satisfying innings that I’ve played and my first century in an ICC event so very satisfying and very happy with the way I performed,” he said.
“When myself and Rohit bhai went out there, cutting the ball wasn’t that easy because the balls outside the off (stump) weren’t coming onto the bat. So I thought of using my feet to even the fast bowlers when I’m trying to go over the circle,” he said.
“When the when the spinners came on me and Virat bhai were talking about in the middle that it’s not easy to score signals off the front foot,” he added.
Gill said he was asked to finish off the match. “At one point there was a bit of pressure on us and the message was sent from outside (that) I have to try to be at the end and that’s what I tried to do,” he said.
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