Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma fall cheaply as debutant Tanzim Hasan Sakib shines on debut

India and Bangladesh are squaring off in the sixth match of the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023.  Since the Men in Blue have already qualified for the summit clash, skipper Rohit Sharma presented opportunities to the fringe players of the squad in a dead rubber. 

Notably, as many as five changes were made, with Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Siraj, and Kuldeep Yadav rested. Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna found a place in the playing combination. Meanwhile, Tilak Varma was handed his ODI cap and made his debut to bat at No.3. With so many changes, skipper Sharma decided to bowl first at the R Premdasa Stadium in Colombo.

India, chasing 266 runs to win, but got off to the worst possible start. Rohit, who opened the innings alongside Shubman Gill, departed for a two-ball duck. Debutant pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib executed the delivery really well to hand Bangladesh an early breakthrough. At three, Tilak joined Gill at the other end. However, he, too, couldn't get going and fell cheaply off a pearler bowled by Tanzim.

Two quick wickets meant that the Men in Blue were left struggling, while the opponents got the much-needed headstart while defending the target set by their batters.

Bangladesh post manageable total despite early setback

Being put into bat first, Shakib Al Hasan and his men got off to a shaky start, as they lost Litton Das in the third over itself. Things worsened for Bangladesh as they were left reeling at 59/4 at the end of 14 overs. However, skipper Shakib and Towhid Hridoy took the matter into their own hands to put Bangladesh out of trouble by stitching a 101-run stand together.

Shakib scored 80 off just 85 balls, while Towhid Hridoy added 51 runs. Important cameos lower the order by Tanzim, Nasum Ahmed, and Mahedi Hasan meant that the Bangla Tigers added crucial runs and eventually set the opponents a manageable target of 266 runs.