Sehwag began Indian proceedings with the word ‘go’! He had earlier mentioned his intentions of being revengeful towards Bangladesh and he was up to his promise when he began the Indian innings with a boundary. He scored a boundary off the last ball of the first over as well giving a great start to the Indian innings.
Bangladesh won the toss and chose to field keeping in mind the fact that on most of the occasions, the team batting second had won matches at the ground. But Indian players who carried the painful memories of the 2007 World Cup were all determined for a super show. Sehwag was at his usual best as Bangladesh players were forced to chase leather all across the ground.
Tendulkar added 69 quick runs with Sehwag for the opening partnership and when he looked all set to score a huge one, he was run out. Gambhir walked in next and added another 83 runs for the second wicket before being bowled by Mahmadullah. India’s man-in-form Virat Kohli walked in with his usual confident body language and went on to score his debut century playing some of the finest of shots we have ever seen from him. On the other hand Sehwag at one time looked to hit a double century. His valiant innings however came to an end after he reached his highest score in ODI’s-175. India reached to a massive score of 370 runs.
Bangladesh made it sure that it was not a one-sided contest. With an early assault from Imrul Kayes who scored 34 off 29 deliveries, Bangaldesh reached their 50 runs in the fifth over. The very responsible Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique played cautiously adding 73 runs for the second wicket. But the increasing run rate was a bit too much and nobody came up with an attacking approach to reduce the run rate. Bangladesh managed to score 283 runs at the end of 50 overs and they clearly hinted that they are a much improved side and in case if they were chasing something close to 300, they could have made a match out of it.
The comprehensive victory over a competitive Bangladesh would have for sure pumped up the cricket fans.
The real test lies ahead. India will face England in their next match on February 27 to be held in Bangalore.
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