Shakib Al Hasan congratulates Bangladesh after historic T20I victory over India

Prior to their T20I series against India, not many would have given Bangladesh much of a chance to roll over the hosts. It was more so because the Tigers didn’t have the services of the enigmatic Shakib Al Hasan, who won’t be playing the sport for the next 12 months. Mahmudullah was in charge of the visiting team in the opening T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Also, because the Tigers had lost all their previous eight matches versus the Men in Blue, the odds were stacked against the visitors. However, Mahmudullah and Co didn’t pay heed to the numbers and the talks. Rather, they came out firing on all cylinders and stormed to their maiden T20I victory over India. It turned out to be another nail-biting clash between the Asian cricket Giants.

Bangladesh scripts history in Delhi

On what looked like a difficult to strip to bat first, Bangladesh elected to field first. Their bowlers did an excellent job as India could only manage 148 in their 20 overs. Shikhar Dhawan top scored for the hosts with 41 runs. Some lusty blows from Krunal Pandya and Washington Sundar helped India rack up 30 runs off the last two overs and also helped them to a comfortable score in Delhi.

For Bangladesh, pacer Shafiul Islam and leg-spinner Aminul Islam Biplob picked up a couple of wickets each. During the run-chase, the Tigers found themselves in all sorts of trouble. They lost Liton Das early to Deepak Chahar. Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar brought sanity into proceedings with a stand of 46 runs. Both batsmen got out after getting their eyes in.

In the end, it was up to Mushfiqur Rahim (60) and Mahmudullah to bail the team out of jail. Mushfiqur smacked four boundaries off Khaleel Ahmed in the 19th over to make the Tigers firm favourites for a win. Shivam Dube bowled the last over and Mahmudullah smacked a six to seal the fate of the game.

In the meantime, Shakib didn’t miss out on congratulating the Tigers on the historic triumph in the national capital of India. He lauded Bangladesh for holding their nerves in the pressure cooker situation. The southpaw may not be on the field, but he would’ve keenly followed the match.

Here is Shakib’s post